


A Stupid Love Story

by orphan_account



Series: A Stupid Love Story [1]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:55:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23198938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Maybe not so stupid, after all.Draco and Ron are forced to become lab partners, neither one of them likes the idea, it’s a stupid, stupid idea.Very Fluffy, very angsty.PART 2 IS OUT PLEASE GO READ
Relationships: Draco/Ron - Relationship, Dron - Relationship
Series: A Stupid Love Story [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1974904
Comments: 14
Kudos: 112





	1. Stupid Idea

*full disclaimer before this begins I whole heartedly ship Romione and I always will I just really like this ship and think it deserves more attention*

Thursday September 9th 1999

This had been a stupid idea.  
Of all the stupid ideas Ron had had in his life, this had been the stupidest.  
This had been a stupid idea. He hadn’t even wanted to do the project. It was stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. It was Harry who had pulled him into this, convincing him it would be a a good chance to rebuild bridges. The boy was obsessed. Ron was sure it was just a way to get him out of the way while Ginny and Harry snuck off to bang in the Room Of Requirement. But he didn’t want to think about that.  
What he did want to think about, though, was how much of a stupid idea this was. He was absolutely seething, blood burning in his face and ears, he swears steam was coming out of them too.  
The 8th year all together was stupid. Ron had done another homework as a kid and now they wanted to pull him back to do more work as an adult. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.  
It was potions that really got to him. He never imagined he’d miss having Snape as a teacher but here he was wishing Professor whatever-the-hell-this-one-was-called, would shut up and let him stalk off back to the Gryffindor Dormitories to punch a wall or something. Indeed, this had been a stupid idea. 

Draco Malfoy thought this was stupid. He didn’t even want to do potions this year, not without Snape, but he still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do as a career and so he took the class begrudgingly, hoping they would go easy on the students after the war. The class had been sorted into Gryffindor and Slytherin (a stupid, stupid decision) and Draco found him self hating his past self more and more as every lesson sitting next to Weasley went by. When they were finally told that their project to pass the class at the end of the year was to come up with a potion that would be useful and discreet within the muggle world, Draco almost fell off his stool. He wasn’t entirely sure what was bothering him more. The prospect of maybe having to work with muggles, which scared him more than anything, he was still struggling against the blood superiority he had been trained into. Or working with Ronald Weasley. Ron hadn’t seemed too pleased either, and Draco spent the rest of the lesson on the edge of his seat as to avoid the literal steam Weasley seemed to be unwittingly puffing from his ears. He didn’t know if he would make it to the end of the week without hurting the Weasley. Indeed, this had been a stupid idea.

Towards the end of the lesson, Ron slid Draco a note. It was written in chicken scrawl Draco inwardly scorned as he tried to make it out. They arranged to meet in the library on the next Saturday, two days from now. Before the Professor could even tell them to leave Ron was up and tumbling out of the room. Hot-headed Gryffindors, Draco seethed, he is not going to mess up this class for me. 

“Oh Ron don’t be so ridiculous,” Hermione chastised him later that day. They were in the Gryffindor common room and Hermione was nose deep in a book, Harry and Ron were playing chess while Ron (in between commands to his chess pieces) was ranting about the stupidness of making him and Malfoy work together.  
“Come on Hermione, you don’t get it! What if they made you work with Parkinson!”  
“I would suck it up and continue with my work, to achieve the grade I need. Honestly Ron it’s nothing personal, just school work, and it’ll be over before you know it.”  
Ron mimicked her and Harry snickered, Ginny threw a pillow that hit both Harry and Ron.  
“Ow! Gin?-“  
“She’s right Ron, just finish the project, they’re not asking you to kiss the guy.”

“Draco, what are you doing?” In the Slytherin common room, the tap,tap,tap,swish,tap,tap,tap,swish sound of someone pacing across marble floor could be heard. Draco glances up to a puzzled looking Blaise stepping into the dormitory.  
“Just trying to figure something out, I suppose.”  
“Yeah? Maybe I can help with that?”  
“Well-“ Draco couldn’t really explain, he didn’t want to sound like a crybaby,” I have to work with Weasley on this project-“  
“Yeesh”  
“Exactly! He’s going to drag my grade down!”  
“Maybe all that strategising in the war got him some smarts, don’t pull that face, you never know.” And with that Blaise drifted up to the 8th year dormitories.

Friday September 10th, 1999  
Ron slept like a baby, in fact, he missed breakfast, which was very very unlike him, and he ended up having to eat some old Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes trick candy, which made his stomach lurch and his heart ache for two entirely different reasons. He rushed to his first class and practically slept through the entire day, luckily, he didn’t have potions so he could avoid Malfoy at all costs, at lunch he wolfed down as much as he could get and was still grabbing at things when the food began to disappear. Hermione and Harry looked at him like he’d gone mad. Ron wasn’t sure what was going on with him, only the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about Draco and that stupid project.  
Draco almost threw up when he looked across the dining hall at Weasley, stuffing his face with chicken, drooling pumpkin juice down his chin. Weasel and the project had been all he could think about all night, the next few months were going to be ridiculously hard and most likely he thought watching Weasley choke down a bowl of ice cream, disgusting.

Saturday September 11th, 1999.

Draco was on time, Ron was late. They didn’t know this would become a theme in their relationship, Draco sat for 15 minutes at the table in the library before deciding he was definitely being stitched up, when Ron came crashing into the library. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone and his hair was wildly disheveled, in any other situation Draco would of jabbed fun at him but Ron looked upset and so he stayed silent. People don’t work well emotionally. Ron spotted Draco and tried to straighten himself out, the librarian was scorning him with her eyes as he fumbled over to the seat opposite Draco, after a few moments of awkward silence,  
“So what were you thinking? For the project I mean?”  
“Not a clue to be completely honest- uh- you?”  
“I had a few ideas yes, I wrote them down last night-“ Draco paused while he shuffled in his cloak, his face betrayed a tiny sign of bashfulness and he spoke again quieter this time,” I was hoping you and- and Granger could help me, you see I don’t know if Muggles already have these potions and so-“  
“Yeah no of course of course, uh, shoot tell me your ideas?”  
“Well I thought of a pain killer of sorts, nothing extreme just-“  
“I think they have that.” Draco betrayed no signs of embarrassment this time, moving on seamlessly as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “I thought we could do a sort of engorging thing, world hunger and all that-“ Ron snorted, Draco looked up, a sly grin playing on his face, “Did I use a word you didn’t understand Weasley?” Ron stopped laughing.  
“No your highness, it was just how you said ‘world hunger and all that’ very nonchalant.” Ron pauses here purposefully-“Sorry, did I use a word you didn’t understand Malfoy?” Malfoy couldn’t help it, he snickered and immediately tried to hide it in his paper, “ I did have one more idea,”  
“Hm?”  
“Yes here it is, a sort of relief, relaxation from the stresses of life’s with no dangerous effects or side effects, or as few as I- we can figure out.”  
Ron nodded slowly, Hermione had told him about Muggle drugs, but this just seems to be a safer alternative to weed. Smart really, though Ron would never admit it. He took a beat too long to respond.  
“Sounds great.” Another beat, “I’ll meet you in potions on Monday yeah snake eyes.” And with that Ron was gone, sweating in his rush to get away. He should not be laughing and feeling comfortable with Draco Malfoy. He shuddered.  
Draco packed up his things and took a slow wander back to his dorm. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so awful after all. 

To be continued...


	2. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hehe

Monday, September 13th 1999

Draco was very, very bored. Him and Ron had been trying to figure out a way to go about their potion and they were coming up cold, at first Ron seemed into it to a certain degree, he was helping out and trying to look in the store cupboard. Draco hates to admit it but he needed the taller slightly buffer man to carry heavier objects from high shelves for him, but evidently Ron had given up. He was slouched over a book with his eyes closed, “thinking” apparently. Draco smacked his forehead, and winced when his ring practically punched the skin there. He knew Weasley would give up on this, he’s a total bum of a person. “Bet you don’t even help you Mother with house work,” Draco seethed stirring in a pink powder that- in his annoyance- he didn’t check the label, Ron jumped up, ‘oh he actually wasn’t sleeping’,   
“Says you Mr House Elf,”  
“Oh we’re going there are we,”  
“Maybe we are,” Ron looked up at Draco, his cloak was abandoned over his stool, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up over his pale forearms, his hair, which Ron had never seen a hair out of place, was sticking out in every direction, falling into its natural middle parting. Draco’s eyes had dulled to a storm grey, and his lips were dry. His cheeks were flushed a stark pink. Ron wondered why he was noticing all of this, it unnerves him so he looked away, and at their potion. While Ron had been noticing all of that and both he and Draco had been arguing back and forth, the pink powder had started something in their potion. It was bubbling and burping, and spilling over the sides. Draco was still talking at him and before Ron could say anything or even move away, the pink hoop exploded all over their desk. It completely coated all of their books and other ingredients, soaking everything a lilac that would be impossible to get out. Also soaking them. Ron had managed to close his mouth in preparation but Draco has still been talking and so, the hoop coated the inside of his mouth. The entire class was staring at them, and Ron was staring at Draco. Silence filled the room, the only sound was the burping of their potion that was some how still bubbling away. Draco swallowed. After a long beat of silence that felt like an hour but probably lasted 30 secs, Ron asked “So, are you relaxed?” Draco looked at him. They stared at each other for another hour long beat. Ron thought Draco might attack him. Or maybe curse him. But Draco couldn’t help himself. He took one look at Ron covered in that pink goop and bust out laughing. Ron stares at him, rocking backwards roaring with laughter, and couldn’t help himself either. Soon they were both in fits of giggles, roaring with laughter and splashing around in their potion until eventually, Professor whatever-the-hell-his-name-is asked them to step outside as he spelled their potion away. They stepped outside still snickering and falling into each other, and leant against the opposite wall, taking deep breaths of the stuffy dungeon air. Eventually they calmed down and wiped their faces. They looked at each other and their was a kind of awkwardness. Ron knew at this point, they would have to get through the rest of the school year seeing a lot of Draco. Draco knew the same, there was so much negativity in the past, so much fighting and bad blood. But there was no real point of holding onto the past now. The war was over and Draco was a changed man. Ron held up a sticky pink hand, Draco stared and it, incredulous.   
“Friends?”  
Draco almost gasped. He slowly put his hand out and shook Ron’s.   
“Friends.”


	3. Potions class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Potions can be not messy and still sweet

Friday, October 1st 1999

Things had gone so much better than expected. Ron had actually started enjoying Potions lessons, which is totally insane because Ron doesn’t ever remember enjoying potions in his life. He actually sort of looks forwards to the sessions and the strange friendship him and Malfoy were building. The past couple of weeks had been odd, he had showed up to the next potions class after the pink goop incident not knowing what to expect. He walked in late- as usual- and Draco didn’t turn to the door. In fact he didn’t look at Ron at all until Ron took his seat in the bustling classroom, things flying and bubbling everywhere. It has been awkward but I’m a few weeks they settled into things very, very nicely.  
*Flash to Friday* “Do you plan on being late Weasley?”  
“Huh?” Ron didn’t expect them to actually talk, he had somehow warped the situation so much in his head that he imagined Malfoy acting the same way he had even before the war. Nerves probably. But why was he nervous? It was just Malfoy.  
“It’s pardon,” Draco corrected but their was a playful tone in his voice, “ You always come late, always.” Draco has started to look forward to potions, he knew Weasley was really doing his best to lift his own weight and even though it often wasn’t enough, Draco appreciated the fact he was trying. The idea of him and Weasley being friends was still settling on him but he tried to act as natural as he did around all his friends. The only thing he was afraid of was Ron getting in anyway attached to him. Draco lives by one rule, and a very Slytherin rule at that, ‘Never Need Anybody’. He didn’t want to depend on anyone or have anyone depend on him. His life was a one person thing and it always had been. He was an island, but Ron felt like a continent with a piece of his heart shining bright on a pedestal in every country. Just ready to be hurt.  
“Oh, I guess I just sleep in a lot.” Ron smiled and looked into the potion. It was deep, deep purple and smelled of lavender.  
“So, how are we doing?”  
“Well-“ Draco started and Ron wished he hadn’t asked, he sounded an awful lot like Hermione when she started explaining things and Ron wasn’t up for that. But he did his best to stay zoned in. “I tried lavender, you can probably smell that. You see, it’s a very relaxing scent, connotations of nature, sleep- in fact it’s often used as a sleep inducing smell among mugg-“  
“Are you sure you’re in the right house?”  
“Pardon me?”  
“Are. You. Sure. You’re. In. The. Right. House. Malfoy?”  
“I heard you the first time Weasel,” he slapped Ron on the back of the head, Ron winced,” but what are you talking about?”  
“You sound like a Ravenclaw, when you explain things I mean.”  
“Oh, oh. Sorry?”  
“No no it’s not a bad thing, I mean, well yeah it’s, you remind me of Hermione sometimes.” Draco was puzzled by that. Granger was muggleborn and he was pure blood and he was still working out his own beliefs from his parents but, he didn’t think it bothered him that Ron made this comparison. It didn’t even bother him that he’d just referred to Ron as Ron and not Weasley in his head.  
“I’m in the right house, Weasley, don’t you worry about that.” Draco slide a hand over the snake on his arm, Ron had purposefully neglected to take note of it these past few classes.  
“I didn’t mean-“  
“I know you didn’t Weasley,” Draco looked up at him,” I don’t know who I was back then,“ he ran his hand again over the tattoo, “but all I know is I feel better as this me, here, you know, with-uh- with you.” Draco blushes furiously and hide his face in the steam coming from the pot. Ron laughed. Not uncomfortably, he likes this Draco too. He leant over time catch some fumes and felt his spine tingle, it wasn’t relaxed, not quite, but it was something similar. Comfort perhaps. And so he knew they almost had it. Draco has refused him every time he had suggested using actual drugs, but Ron was only half joking when he said they should use weed. Draco snorted at him and accidentally inhaled too much potion, which in turn sent him into a coughing fit and Ron into a laughing fit. After they had both recovered, Draco got very serious.  
“Weasley, if we use drugs, there is going to be the dangerous side effects of drugs, for example, addiction-“ Draco scorned him with his eyes, “then this would have the backwards point.” Ron nodded thoughtfully, which wasn’t hard because he was trying to process and come up with anything helpful he could give to Draco. “And besides,” Draco continued,” Its not supposed to have the same effect as a drug. It’s supposed to relax you, calm your nerves, not get you high.”  
“Bloody Hell, how much trouble do you think Professor what’s-his-face would put us in if someone got high off our potion?” Ron laughed adding a small blue leaf to the potion that had healing elements. It sent a blue poof up and the potion went from deep purple, to a lighter, closer to white colour. Draco gave him an approving look, “We wouldn’t get in trouble,” to answer Ron’s puzzled expression he continues, “He has to taste test each one, he’d be too high to shout at us.” Draco stirred the potion as Ron laughed and almost fell off his stool. 

Sunday, October 3rd 1999.

They had agreed again to meet in the library. They had been meeting here on the weekends pretty regularly, Ron waved goodbye to Harry who was headed to the Ravenclaw dorms to see Luna, for whatever reason. Harry had asked Ron about the project last night in the dorms and Ron had tried to explain about their main ideas and the fact that him and Draco were really getting on, but before he could finish, Seamus had thrown a pillow at his head, “GO. TO. SLEEP.”  
Draco felt as if he should just start telling Ron to arrive an hour earlier, to give him the tiniest possibility to be here on time. Draco has decided that today they weren’t going to talk about work. Because that’s not what friends always do. Friends talk about other things. And because 8th years were technically adults, they had free rein, so Draco was thinking they could go down the Hogsmead. He liked himself when he was with Ron and he wanted to keep Ron as a friend, for as long as possible. He was worried he’d come of very very strong, but it wasn’t anything huge, just a trip to Hogsmead, everyone goes to Hogsmead. Not a big deal. And besides, Ron wants to be friends too right? Good friends? Draco had no idea how right he was.


	4. Falling In Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hogsmead trip :)

***  
Ron rushed to the library as fast as he could. He wasn’t even sure what they were doing today, Draco had been weird about it in class, he didn’t really have any clear details. But something about the prospect of spending today with Draco was exciting to him. Which was strange, because it only really excited him when Harry told them to meet up in random places to go on little journeys around secret passages Fred and George had lead him too. Ron’s heart squeezed when he thought of Fred and his run slowed to a walk as he got to the library. Draco was sitting on his usual table and so could see Ron walk in. He waved to him and Ron pulled himself together enough to wave back. Fred’s death had been one of the hardest things he’d ever gone through. After it, he could hardly go down stairs. The entire house was silent, all the time, he was sharing a room with Harry, and they didn’t talk much. They only spoke when they had too and sometimes, at night, Ron would wake up to hear Harry crying quietly, trying to muffle his sobs into his pillow. He would make his way across the room and sit on the edge of Harry’s bed. He never asked Harry about the nightmares, just as Harry never asked about his, but whenever they heard the other was having one, they would make their way to the others bed and sit quietly, shushing the other and trying to calm them. They were both aware that it was going on, and Ron took a bet that the same was happening in Hermione and Ginny’d room. The house was so so eerily quiet, the only real sounds were the clashes of cutlery and plates when they all went down to dinner, all expect George. In fact, Ron hadn’t seen George since the war. George never left his room, ever, and no one tried to coax him out. Ron felt the loss of Fred in his hearts everyday and he carried that with him but, he couldn’t imagine what George was going through. Ron was glad when they got the letter about the 8th year, in early June. There were still some parts of Hogwarts they couldn’t go into, and it hurt Ron to go into certain places anyways so he would avoid those. He was so happy that he would have the chance to get out of that haunted house, he hadn’t thought about the string of painful memories just being at Hogwarts would bring back. 

He sat down at the table, not in the mood for work. Oddly, Draco didn’t have any work out at all, he just stared at Ron.  
“Do I have something on my face Malfoy?” Ron snapped.  
“No, Weasley you’re crying.” Draco tried to avert his eyes, but the fact Ron was crying worried him a lot more than he thought it would. He almost leant over to take Ron’s hand on instinct but he sat on his hands instead to stop himself. After the war, Draco’s parents were embarrassed of him. His father had barely avoided prison and he didn’t know how he felt about that, he wasn’t sure how much his parents had been involved, in all those deaths, he didn’t know what they deserved. He tried to express this stupidness, his parents were embarrassed and angry at his change of values, his parents wouldn’t look at him for months. When he got the letter about 8th year he practically jumped out the door. Hogwarts wasn’t his favourite place, by far, but there was less pressure on him there, or so he thought. He hadn’t thought about the fact that he was known as a death eaters son, practically a death eater himself, and people (especially those of which had lost family members) didn’t like that. Ron didn’t seem to link him directly to his older brothers death, which was a huge relief.  
“Damn, sorry, I was just- you don’t care it doesn’t matter.” Ron hastily wipes his tears, and looked around for the work Draco had set out, but there wasn’t any. Draco looked at Ron,  
“You don’t have to say anything, you don’t have to explain, but I do,”  
His stared at the table, “I do care.”  
There was a long beat of silence as Ron considered this. It made him smile.  
“Thank you. Draco. Thank you,” it made Draco gasp outwardly to bear his actual name form Ron’s mouth, “so what work are we doing today?”  
Draco snapped out of his shock to grin, “Actually, I had other plans. Seeing as we actually don’t have that much work to do today, we need to be in the lab you see, I thought we could go down to Hogsmead. Besides I need a new scarf.” Ron laughed and then got wide eyed when he realised Draco was serious.  
“That sounds, great, actually. I think I need a break.” Ron ran a hand through his hair and smiled shyly at Draco. 

When they arrived in Hogsmead they weren’t sure what they wanted to do first, they didn’t really know what each other’s interests were. Honeydukes seemed safe, everyone likes sweets and you get to see which ones. They stepped inside and the door shut quickly as the autumn wind swooped in and out. Ron went straight over to the fudge, staring at the best kind and keeping his mouth closed to stop the drool. Draco laughed at him, “Which ones are you gonna get?”  
“Huh?”  
“Which ones are you gonna buy?” Draco strolled over to the shelves he was ogling, none of it looked that appetising.  
“Oh no I- uh,” Ron got bashful and started to look around at the ceiling, the high shelves of jars and bubbling drinks, “I can’t afford any of this, not the good stuff anyways,” Ron picked up a single jelly bean that had fallen to the floor and crushed it between his fore finger and thumb. Draco felt really, really sorry for him. He found it a profound thing that none of him wanted to be a snob about this. He knew he had more money than Ron, it was just a common fact so, he didn’t need to rub it in. Secretly, he liked having the slight upper hand, but that was just the Slytherin in him. The tiny Hufflepuff in him spied the fudge Ron had been ogling. He told Ron to wait outside, that he was going to pick out some stuff for his friends and come meet him. But he didn’t do that, he bought two boxes of the fudge Ron was looking at and a chocolate frog for himself. He stepped outside and orange leaves swept around his ankles. There was Ron, quiet and red faced, waiting for him leaning against the wall. He handed Ron one box of fudge.  
“Are you kidding me? For me? Malfoy I can’t-“ Draco didn’t like the transition back to Malfoy but he didn’t let it show on his face.  
“Oh shut it Ron, they’ve been bought.” Oh. So that’s what it sounded like when Draco said his name. He wanted to hear it again. That’s not the kind of thing you can ask a person without sounding wildly creepy, so Ron just thanked up and took a big bite of his fudge. Draco stuck the second box of fudge inside his cloak and open up his chocolate frog, pinning it down and sliding out the card. It was Dumbledore. The old man smiled wisely up at him and left the frame. Draco felt guilt twinge inside his head. He bite the arm off the frog and tucked it back into its box and into his other pocket. If they bought anything else Ron would have to carry it because his cloak was weighing him down. 

Inside the Hogshead, Ron ordered two butter beers and they sat down at a booth opposite each other. They decided to play 20 questions, and they were in the bar for about 2 hours. Laughing and crying a little and talking about everything, even the war.  
“So why did you do it?” They had just come out of a conversation about the wacky adventures of the Golden Trio and why Ron needed to do a lot more studying now. He’d missed a whole lot of school and it was important that if he wanted to become an Auror he got the grades for it. Draco offered to tutor him in some stuff and Ron was very, very grateful. For the tutoring or for more time with Malfoy he wasn’t sure.  
“Why did I do what?”  
“Other than your parents, why did you become a,” Ron lowered his voice,” you know what.” Draco cleared his throat, the tattoo on his arm seemed to be tingling and he put a hand on it, it didn’t go unnoticed by Ron.  
“He was going to kill me, Ron.” Draco’s eyes got wet which was beyond stupid and he didn’t even move a hand to wipe them he just closed his eyes and wished them away, “Me and my Mother. I-I didn’t have a choice.” Draco’s voice began to tremble awfully and Ron placed a gentle hand on his knee.

When they left and began to head back up to Hogwarts, the sun was setting and the evening was beginning, lights flickered on a little ways down the path on each side and they walked next to each other, arms brushing the whole way. They carried on talking but all much lighter things now. Mentioning the colour orange of the sky and how it reminded Ron of the Chudley canons. Draco found it hilarious when he heard the way Ron’s room was decorated.  
“Mines green. All green, little bits of silver. It’s very carefully designed.”  
“God, I bet your room is bigger than my entire house.” ‘  
‘Probably’ Draco thought but he kept it private, unlike all the years before, he had no intention of upsetting Ron. When they arrived at the main doors, Ron had to break of up the main staircase to the Gryffindor dorms. Ron stepped onto the first step of the staircase and turned around. Here he was much taller than Draco, he was on the ground anyways. Draco put his hand out for Ron to shake it, and Ron took it and after a beat pulled him in for a bro hug.  
“Thanks for letting me in.”  
“You too, Ron. You too.”


	5. Balls and Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No spoilers ;)

Saturday, October 30th 1999

Hogwarts was holding its first Halloween Ball. Everyone needed a pick me up from the war and so, McGonagall had decided she wanted to put on a grand ball on Halloween night. And Ron, Ron needed a date. Harry and Ginny were going together of course. Sometimes Ron hated how loved up they were. Hermione was going with Luna, Ron wasn’t 100% sure what that was but he thought they might just be going as friends. Or not. Not that it matters either way. Ron didn’t want to go with anybody, but his two best friends both had dates and so, it would be embarrassing for him to go alone. He didn’t want to end up drunk on fire whiskey alone at a table somewhere crying into a swan shaped napkin. He told Draco all of this during potions class, there potion was a quarter of the way done, they were almost there now, it was a bright green colour.   
“Well why don’t we go together? As friends of course.” Draco kept a cool demeanour but inside his heart was pounding, he was so afraid of having this be taken the wrong the way, whatever he meant as the wrong way. He needed a date too, but this wasn’t a date, this wasn’t a date it was going as friends. So that was cool. He was as worried about having a date as Ron seemed to be, and inevitably this meant he’d have the spend the evening with Potter, Granger, Ron’s little sister and Lovegood. However the prospect of spending the being with Ron made that seem less annoying and more fun. They had been meeting up a lot lately, the past two or so weeks they’d been seeing each other pretty much every day, after dinner they would walk around the corridors, Blaise was becoming increasingly curious as to where Draco was getting off to everyday and every weekend, but he was happy to see Draco seemingly so cheery. Ron felt like he had really found a comfort in Draco, someone he could talk to and be honest with, and show his emotions without being picked on. Unbeknownst to him Draco felt the exact same, no one but the Slytherins had welcomed him after his Deatheater days and now having someone who he could explain himself too and be honest which meant so much. Other than Harry and Hermione, Ron felt like he’d found a best friend. Ron just wasn’t sure what happened to his head when he was around Draco. Not just his head either. His heart. It was always pounding and fluttering when his and Draco’s hands met, it shook when Draco said his name. The same happened with Draco, but he wasn’t prepared to admit to himself that he felt anything like that. He wasn’t sure what this meant and it scared him a little, the idea he was becoming in some way attached to Ron.  
“Together?”  
“As friends Ron, obviously.”  
“Right well, yeah I mean...yeah, sounds great Draco. Sounds perfect.” Ron smiles at Draco for a beat too long before putting his head back in a book about the Calming Elements Of Dragon Dung. They were sitting a lot closer to each other than they had been a month and a half ago. God, Draco thought, a month and half, everything has changed.

Ron realised later that night that did not own a suit, had never owned a suit, would never own a suit, and that he was going to die. He had come into the common room beaming, replaying the scene with Draco in his head over and over. They were going to have a blast.  
“Finally find a date did you Ronald?” Said Hermione playfully, not looking up from her book. God that girl was always reading a book. Harry sauntered over to Ron and elbowed him, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.   
“So who’s the lucky lass mate? Huh? Huh?”  
Ron laughed and blushed pushing Harry away,   
“It’s Draco.” The entire common room, was silent. You could hear a pin drop. It had only been some first years who were still whispering to one another as they had been the entire time and the three of them, plus Ginny sitting in the corner on the loveseat that Harry had just cotton you from. The fire was cracklings in the background.   
Ginny coughed, Hermione actually put her entire book down, not even holding the page with her finger. Harry was the first one to break the silence.   
“Huh?”  
“Yeah I mean, as friends obviously-“  
“Friends?” Hermione grinned,” you guys are friends ?”  
“Yeah, we’re really close now and it was his idea and I think we’ll have a lot of fun and I don’t want you guys to hate me or anything-“ Ron was rambling and Harry stopped him,  
“Mate, of course we don’t hate you,” Ron noticed they were all smiling at him, “we’re glad you to kissed and made up. I know old grudges die hard.” Ron laughed nervously.   
“Okay, okay you’re right. But don’t say kiss and make up that’s weird.” They all laughed this time and Ron sat down. When Harry and Ginny started talking again Hermione leant over to Ron behind the cover of her book.  
“Friends? Just friends? You’re blushing an awful lot Ronald.”  
“Come on Hermione. I’m pretty sure I’m not gay and I just, he’s Draco you know? Just Draco.”  
“Hm,” she pondered,” funny I thought he was ‘Malfoy’ to you.”  
Before Ron could respond she was heading up to the girls dormitories, head still leant into her book. 

Ron was leaning over his draw in his dorm, it wasn’t quite dark yet, the orange rays of sun bouncing through the glass of the small castle windows onto his bed. There were clothes strewn literally everywhere, all kinds of cloaks and jumpers, when Harry came up he laughed at Ron and started picking things up. It was still his natural instinct to clean up after people.  
“Mate- MATE! Chill please calm down, jeez what are you doing.”  
“I need a suit for tomorrow dingus, this isn’t funny Harry! I wanna look okay at least decent okay?”  
“Okay okay, I can’t lend you a suit but I have some nice muggle clothes?”  
“Merlin, Harry that sounds perfect!”  
Harry went over to his draw and pulled out some clothes, a nice pair of jeans he hadn’t worn in forever and a shirt and tie, Ron was taller and more built than him so, most of these clothes (which were all Dudleys) would fit him. After a while of Ron not saying much he ‘ooooed’ at a green shirt with a silver tie. Harry looked at it,   
“Well you’d have to tuck it in a lot, you could wear it with these?” he pulled a pair of black jeans out. Perfect. Ron pulled him into a hug.   
“So I’m supposed to ignore the fact these are the Slytherin colours right?” Harry laughed punching Ron’s arm.   
“Draco will love it.”  
“Trying to impress him now are we?”  
“No,” he tried to slap Harry upside the head, but Harry dipped, “ he is my date I guess, I wanna look nice for him, he’ll wanna do the same.” Harry snorted, he stood on a chair and grabbed his wand thrusting it at Ron.  
“You fool! Draco Malfoy always looks good!” And then he did a little dance.   
“Very funny Harry, ha ha ha.”

That night Ron couldn’t sleep, he laid his outfit out on his bed in preparation like a small kid on a school trip. He rolled about and tried to imagine what he would say to Draco, when he met him that night. They didn’t have potions and so that meant he’d have to spend the entire day waiting in anxiety. He wondered if Draco was nervous too, he knew Draco had soft insides but he often seemed very cool and collected. Would they dance together? They were going together but it wasn’t together together. What if Ron decides he wants to dance with Draco? Why on earth would he want to dance with Draco? It’s not a date. It’s just an excuse to go to a ball that two single guys shouldn’t be at in the first place right? And if Draco had meant this as a date, which Ron was sure he hadn’t, Ron would have to turn him down. Because Ron wasn’t gay. He was sure of that. Well sort of sure. There had been a few times in his childhood, but he was definitely into girls. Was there a middle option? But he wasn’t into Draco. Was he?

Sunday, October 31st 1999

After Ron’s stressful nights he woke up late, missing breakfast and again and sleeping through his day. At lunch he ate lots of sugar and filled himself up, making sure to get double the amount of breakfast and lunch substance. When the time came around to get ready for the ball. Ron is sweating buckets. He sees Harry, dressed up all nice in his navy blue suit and square ended tie, he’s not sure why Harry went for such muggle like attire. He remembers him wearing a cloak in the 4th year. He’s buttoning up his green shirt and has about five minutes to go when he looks himself in the mirror. He observed his eyes, lips and freckles. The plain of his stomach underneath his fingers. His hair, which he had attempted to neaten but gave up eventually realising it would look odd to everyone if his hair was well groomed as it never was. He let himself wonder if Draco admired the way he looked. He certainly liked the way Draco looked. Pale skin, paler than his even and high cheek bones. Deep stormy grey eyes, white blond hair, stark in its individuality. Tall, but not taller than him, which Ron liked. There was nothing weird about the fact he noticed these things about Draco. He rolled up the sleeves of the satin shirt, up to his elbows and stepped out the door to head down to the Great Hall. He promised himself he wouldn’t worry tonight. Just have fun. 

Draco knew Ron would be late and so he took his time, making sure his shirt was tucked in and his jacket on right. He brushed a hand through his hair. He was excited at the idea of seeing Ron, he wasn’t letting himself over think this, not the emotions or the doubts and the thoughts. He just took some deep breaths and let himself relax into things. He was going to have a wonderful evening with one of his closest friends. There was nothing to overthink.   
Ron stepped into the great hall. It had been totally transformed. There was lit jack-o-lanterns floating around the room high up, and there was live bats swooping in and out of dancing couples. The entire place was lit in an orange and eerie light and there was a few round tables on either sides on the doors, draped in black table clothes, floating an inch of the ground. The ghosts flew about everywhere, zooming threw students just to scare them, and Ron could see Seamus at the fruit punch, tipping fire whiskey into it while Dean covered him. Predictable. He looked to his left and saw Draco, sitting at a table with Harry, Hermione, Luna and Ginny’s coats and purses. Ron assumes this meant they would’ve already spoken, which make Ron feel warm. He made eye contact with Draco and sort of kind of forgot how to breath. Draco was wearing a scarlet shirt with a shimmering golden tie, he stood up to walk over to Ron and Ron saw he was wearing tight fitting black jeans. Ron couldn’t speak. The colour complemented Draco and his eyes so well, his face was perfectly flushed. He looked beautiful.  
Draco’s breath caught in his throat when Ron stepped into the hall, admiring the scene around him. Ron looked like Christmas with all that green and orange but there couldn’t be a more perfect combination, had he dressed in Draco’s house colours on purpose? Like Draco had done for him? His freckles were so perfect in this orange light and the smile he gives Draco as he walks over makes Draco’s heart pound. But he’s not going to over think it, just going to have fun.  
After all of that struggling with his head in the dorm, Ron couldn’t help himself, he was overwhelmed with the need to ask Draco to dance. There was a silence, the pumping music and chatter in the background as they stared at one another.  
“Hey.” Ron said, they were close enough to just about hear one another.  
“Hey.” Draco mouthed back. “This is stupid huh?” He said looking around at everyone dancing.  
“So stupid,” agreed Ron, not taking his eyes off Draco,”wanna dance ?”  
Draco laughed but held his hand out,  
“why not?”  
They didn’t sit down, not once, the entire night. They started out far apart, Draco’s hands on Ron’s shoulders, elbows locked, Ron’s hands on Draco’s waist. After a while though, and they’ll never know how, they ended up chest to chest, spinning and jumping around laughing and smiling all night long. Draco hadn’t relaxed this much in years. At around 2am, when most people had gone to bed, Ron, Draco and the rest of their little gang crashed on there table. Exhausted. One by one, they stopped the conversation to go to bed. Ron loved the fact Draco was getting along so well with everyone and Draco loved it too. They soon realised that they were the only two left in the hall, and they were sitting awfully close to each other. Neither of them could even blame it on being drunk because Ron had told Draco about the punch and wanting to remember the night, they decided to to drink any.   
“Hey.” Draco said again, quietly, staring at Ron’s eyes, and then at Ron’s lips. They were an inch apart. Draco had no idea, what he was doing right now.   
“Hey.” Ron repeated, leaning in to Draco, he hadn’t taken the time to notice properly until now how delicious Draco always smelt. Draco paused before he got too close to Ron, he laughed forcefully and went to pull away. He was afraid of making Ron wildly uncomfortable, but Ron wasn’t having that. He didn’t over think. He didn’t think. He just grabbed Draco’s face, and brought his lips to his own.   
It was gentle at first, Ron was so so unbelievably nervous, but after a second, Draco pushed back against him, wrapping his two lips around Ron’s bottom one and sucking gently. They pulled away from each other and sat in a happy silence for a while. Ron was the first to get up, he pulled Draco up too and held his pinkie as they walked to the outside of the great hall. Ron turned to look at Draco before he headed off back to the Gryffindor dormitories. Draco had already been looking at him. He didn’t want to overthink any of this. He would do that enough in the morning. Right now he wanted to steal the moment. He kissed Draco again. Because he wanted too. Because Draco was beautiful and funny and his favourite person. Because right now, he was happy, and he didn’t need to over analyse this. This kiss was full of passion and heat, he pushed Draco to the wall and pulled out of the kiss. Draco was wide eyed and Ron didn’t think he’d ever seen him shocked before. On the spur of the moment, he licked over Draco’s top lip, turned on his heel, and walked up the away and up the stairs to go to bed. Draco stood for a moment, hand on his mouth, and then stumbled in a drunk happiness, back to his room.


	6. Boyfriends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco decided he wasn’t going to be silly about this. He’d meet Ron outside the dormitories.

Monday, November 1st 1999

Ron had potions today, and Ron was terrified. He woke up, actually early, and lay there sweating.   
When he had arrived back in the dorm last night, he was grinning like an idiot until he realised they were all sitting there. Waiting for him. Harry shot him a knowing grin.   
“Nice of you to join us, Mr Weasley.”  
Said Ginny slyly, stroking a black cat in her lap, someone else’s probably.   
“So where have you been, you dog you!?” Harry joked, punching Ron’s arm, he sounded like a victorian man on the radio. Of course Ron didn’t think this, he simply tried to look angry and control the blush climbing his body. Harry opened his mouth to take another jab at him, but yawned widely instead. Ginny climbed up and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the dorms.   
“Okay okay, we’re going to bed now, but when I see you up there, I want all the details-“ Harry yawned, as they separated to their respective dorms, Ginny turned and mouthed “All-the-details.” And made a motion with two fingers to her eyes and one to Ron. Hermione giggled. Ron collapsed next to her, smiling and plopping his arm on the back of the sofa behind her head.   
“So,” he said after a minute,”how was your evening with Looney Lovegood, Miss Granger.” Hermione blushed gently and smiled,  
“Lovely thank you. She’s lovely. An interesting dancer too.” Ron laughed with her this time. The fire was strong and warm and he kicked off his shoes, wiggling his toes through his hole ridden socks.   
“What about you mister “we’re just going as friends” or should I say mister “It’s Draco, just Draco” ? You didn’t seem to be thinking that when you were dancing with him all night, hm?”  
“Okay okay! I’ll crack! He’s, he is just my friend. He is. Or I thought he was. I didn’t realise I had any other kind of feelings for him. But then we were the only two left in the hall, which-” he poked Hermione in the ribs ,”was probably not as much of an accident as it seemed was it,” Hermione shook her head and smiled.   
“Well, we ended up as the last two people in the hall and then we were just really close and we, we, well we kissed.”  
Hermione jumped up and stared at him, then she broke out into a huge grin and did a little spin.  
“Goodnight Ronald.” She drifted off upstairs wistfully, he knew she was more curious than that, but the questions would come tomorrow. In force no doubt. He took his time walking back up to the dorm, stroking his hand up the warm stone wall, imaging having his lips back on Draco again and again. When he got to his room, Harry was crashed out, fully clothed.   
“Bloody predictable.” Ron un-did Harry’s tie and pulled it off for him, to stop him from choking himself in the night and stripped off to his boxers, not bothering with pyjamas, he got into bed. He slept soundly that night, and he dreamt of Draco. He would worry in the morning.

Morning Ron hated last nights Ron. Morning Ron was sweating at 5.30 in the morning, the sun not yet risen, no one else awake. Morning Ron realised that last night Ron should not of left all the worries till now. All of the words were buzzing around in his head and it was driving him wild. He still wanted to be friends with Draco, but more than that? The idea was scary, they’d been friends for some time but maybe not long enough? We’re they rushing things? Did Ron love Draco? Was it just strong like? Why had he enjoyed kissing him so much? Was Ron gay? That last question stuck out like a sore thumb, and it was the one making Ron sweat. He had been sure even before the war that Draco was gay, and Draco seemed okay with this fact. But Ron was so, so confused. He clearly liked Draco. He had kissed Draco, for Merlins sake. But he also really like girls and all of their, girl parts. He’d never thought about boys in that kind of way and this was all knew to him. He had no idea if he could be in the middle or that was even a thing that existed, but the idea of it scared him. When things scare him he talks to Draco. But he can’t talk to Draco about this. That was one of his problems. The idea that maybe he’d totally destroyed what he and Draco had was the most terrifying thing. He loved being Draco’s friend, he loved their late night library talks and there after dinner walks. He loved being close and having deep conversations and having someone he could actually cry in front of. What if Draco never wanted to talk to him again? Didn’t even want to be partners in Potions? Were they just expected to be a couple now? Would that change things? Things would surely be awkward right ? The relaxed environment he and Draco had was one of his favourite things about there relationship. By the time he had finished his worrying and decided to get up and get dressed, all of the other boys were up. Including Harry who, as soon as he heard that Ron was up, peered over curiously and would stop staring at Ron until Ron said something.   
“Would you stop. looking. at. me. like. that.”  
“Not until you tell me, allllll the detailssss,” Harry was pulling out his words funnily and Ron started to think that maybe he’d had some of that punch last night and was still recovering.   
“I’m not telling you anything, you’re insane.”  
“So there is something to tell, hehe?”  
“Right,” and with that Ron shoved a pillow onto Harry face and swivelled over his bed, to his draw, to get out his uniform for the day.

Draco woke up, very confused. He had a strange dream, a dream that Ron had kissed him. He put his fingers to his top lip, that Ron had licked in his dream. And then last night came flashing back, faster than any memory had ever hit him before. He sat up in bed, back against his headboard, the material of it making his back shiver. He’d been shirtless, and only really just managed to kick off his jeans before he passed out, that’s probably why the kiss hit him as a dream and not as the memory it was. He put his hands to his lips. Ron had kissed him. Twice. He didn’t realise Ron felt like that. Like he did. But what did he feel? Did he like Ron, did he love him? He certainly enjoyed that kiss. And he knew that he was getting close to Ron in a way he’s never been close to anybody before. And he loves the fact he could trust Ron and talk to him and cry with him. But did he love Ron himself? He was gay, he was sure he was gay, he’d been sure he was gay for a while but he’d never harboured any serious crushes on anyone. Did Ron actually want to be with him? Did he want to be with Ron? Ron had kissed him. Twice. Not the other way around. He wished he’d of taken some initiative and kissed Ron. What if Ron thought he’d hated it? He hadn’t even told Ron how stunning he looked. Because they were friends. Friends didn’t do that. That would be weird. But surely they were more than friends now? Things were going to be so horribly awkward, he thought pulling on his tie and tying the knot slowly. He wanted to be grown about this. And maybe a little brave. Which was unlike him, he self identified as a coward and wasn’t ashamed of it. So he left quite a while before breakfast, to go to the Gryffindor common room, and wait. Obviously he didn’t know the password, and he knew he didn’t know the password, so he went to lean against the wall. The Fat Lady stared at him, puzzled.   
“Sorry?”   
“We don’t get many Slytherins up here, young Mr Malfoy, ah yes I know who you are, they always used to come up here whispering about you.”   
“Right. Right.” Malfoy laughed. After a while, people started pouring out. They all looked at him, confused and some scared. But none stopped. Apart from Harry, who wondered out the door and spied him, walking over and smiling at him.   
“Potter,” Malfoy said not impolitely, he’d realised after there chit chat last night that, much like Ron, Harry was a lot nicer and a much better person than he had first thought.   
“Malfoy...,” he peered behind him,” he’ll be out in a moment I think.” And with that Harry skipped off with Hermione. True to Harry’s word Ron came out a few moments later. He looked rather stressed. Draco hopes it wasn’t about the kiss. But it most likely was.  
“Your shirts untucked Weasel.” Ron hadn’t even noticed Draco standing there in his rush and sweat. He turned slowly and stared at Draco. Draco felt the memories of last night come back at such full force seeing Ron, and he was a little breathless. He smiled, Ron looked gobsmacked.  
“Am I dead or something Ron? Hello? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.” And there it was. Ron’s name, spilling off of Draco’s tongue. Ron appraised Draco, head to toe and walked over to him, face cracking into a huge smile. This wasn’t awkward. He didn’t feel any pressure to say anything or be anything right now. He just felt pure happiness in the form of tiny butterflies fluttering up from his stomach.   
“Last night was-“  
“Amazing,” Draco interrupted and then read Ron’s eyes to make sure he felt the same. Now they were a half metre apart.”But there was one thing missing,” and with that, very quickly in fact, so quickly Ron wasn’t sure what was going on, Draco grabbed the front of Ron’s tie, and pulled his mouth closer to his own. When Ron was an inch away, eyes already close, Draco whispered to him, breath fanning out across his face, “ I never got to kiss you.”  
And with that, Ron’s lips were on Draco’s once again. Draco had control over the kiss this time, weaving his arms around Ron’s neck and loving it when Ron did the same with his waist. They must’ve been there for a straight minute, detaching and reattaching, smiling and pulling impossibly closer to each other. Draco’s stomach was wriggling wildly, and Ron was just so impossibly happy. They only stopped when they heard someone whistle. They separated quickly and straightened themselves out only to see the back of Ginny Weasleys head swishing away down the corridor.   
They both started laughing and sat down against the wall. Deciding to skip breakfast.   
They sat against the cold stone wall, in a comfortable silence for a while. Draco was the first to break it.  
“You know I’m gay, right?”  
“I mean, yeah, everyone knows that.” This mad Draco laugh, he was kind of obvious.  
“Are you?” Ron pauses for a second, smile slipping. He responded a beat too late.  
“I- I don’t know Draco. I know I like you,” He turned to look at the side of Draco’s head,” A L O T. And I know that I love spending time with you and   
working on this stupid potions project with you. But...” Ron wasn’t sure how to continue, Draco placed a gentle hand on his knee as Ron had once done for him. Ron put his hand over Draco’s, and then gently interlaced them. “I’ve liked girls. Like really liked girls. Never like this of course,” he squeezed Draco’s hand, “but girls do, I mean you know, get me going.” Draco laughed at Ron’s typical bashful beating around the bush.   
“So you think you like both.”  
“Is that even, an option.”  
“It’s called Bisexual. Or maybe Pansexual. But you don’t have to label yourself Ron. I like you. And I-“ Draco turned to look him right in the eyes, “ I want you. I don’t know how we’re gonna do this, or what we’re gonna do. But I know I want you. As long as you want me too.” This time Ron didn’t wait a beat to respond, he didn’t let a second of doubt fill Draco’s mind.  
“I want you too. So much. So much. And I don’t think I’m ready to label myself yet. I just need time to think about that.”  
“Take as much as you need.” He squished Ron’s fingers with his,” there’s no rush.”   
“Is there any possibility of this,” Ron held up there intertwined fingers, “becoming a thing without me landline myself?” He set there hands down gently on his leg and strokes the back of Draco’s hand with his thumb. Draco shivered under the touch.   
“Labels don’t matter. As long as we like each other,” he lifted up their hands,”I don’t see why this shouldn’t be, something.”  
They walked to potions hand in hand, but you wouldn’t know it if you walked past them. They hand both their hands buried deep in Ron’s cloak pocket. When they finally got to their seat in potions, both on time, they let go of each other’s hands. Ron went to get their ingredients but not before poking Draco in the side about the fact he couldn’t go do it himself. Their potion had kind of been backfiring on them these past few days. It was supposed to be calming but it seemed to be energising, Ron kept suggesting they just change their idea, but Draco was dead set on not being defeat. The elements that create calm are happy environments and not really having anything you need to do. So they were focusing on the not having any responsibilities aspect but the potion seemed to be picking up on that as recklessness. As he moved past others tables he spotted Blaise and Dean. He walked over to say hello and got a whiff of their potion. It smelt like autumn leaves and mint, he also got a hint of citrus and rust. It was absolutely intoxicating. He leant in further.   
“What in the bloody hell are you guys making?” Ron said leaning further and further over their desk.  
“None of your business Weasley,” Blaise pushes him back lightly, he didn’t have any intention of actually hurting Ron just wanted his literal nose out of their business.  
“It’s not finished yet Ron, we started with making amortentia, smells good hm?” Ron took a step back.  
“Oh, that’s why.”  
“Yeah that’s why.” Draco who had gotten bored of waiting for Ron spied him on the other side of the room, he went over to him and put a hand on his shoulder bending over to smell whatever Ron was smelling. It was intoxicating. Freshly mowed grass and spearmint toothpaste and something else he couldn’t quite pinpoint. 

When they’d finally finished up in potions they stepped outside, the last two in the corridor, to go off to their respective lessons. Ron kisses Draco on the forehead, bravely, and went off to class after wishing him a good day.  
“You too.” Draco whispered as a perfect happiness filled him up.


	7. Room of Requirement and First dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The room of Requirement is a god send, and so are Draco’s hickeys.

Tuesday, November 2nd 1999

Ron liked passing notes. He had always passed funny notes between him, Harry and Hermione that made Harry laugh and got him a telling off from Hermione. He decided he wanted to give Draco notes. Draco wasn’t the most trusting of people, and he had every reason to not be, so Ron thought it would be a brilliant idea to comfort him and get him used to the idea that Ron wanted this to. To be his boyfriend. Crazy. That word. Boyfriend. Draco Malfoy’s boyfriend. He couldn’t imagine telling his past self that. He laughed thinking of 4th year Draco and 4th year him reacting to the idea that in 4 years time they’d be dating. He’d have a fit. He sat in front of a piece of parchment in the common room, Tuesday evening, and his head buzzed. He tried to think of what to right but just keep dipping his quill in and out of the inkwell.   
“Just write what you feel,” said Hermione who’d been doing some homework across the room but had moved to sit on the sofa beside him,  
“What do I feel Mione?”  
“I can’t tell you that one Ron, that’s sort of a figure it out yourself gig.” Ron stared blankly at the parchment. He tried closing his eyes, focusing on Draco. His hair and the way he smelt, the way he’d smelt in the amortentia. The way he always looked prim and like he spent hours on his hair. The way he always had perfectly polished shoes and skin. He thought about his eyes, deep grey when he was emotional and almost white when he wasn’t. He thought about the sound of Draco’s laugh, one that he hated so much in the past, high and tinkling like a fairies. He thought about Draco working on their potion and how smart Draco was. He thought about all the times Draco had sent him into fits of impossible to stop giggles and he thought about all the deep conversations they’d had about the war and about death. He thought about Draco’s lips on his, passionate and intense. Draco’s hand, laying on his leg, intertwined with his.   
Ron opened his eyes to a page full of writing. His small, untidy handwriting had covered every inch of the page and he stared at it, astonished. Sometimes he didn’t know himself. Head written every thought, in detail.   
He read it through and was in shock at his own poetry, if only he could try this hard in his lessons. As an afterthought he wrote,   
“Meet me where it all began, Saturday, 7am sharp don’t be late Mr Malfoy.”  
After waiting for the ink to dry so as not to smudge it he folded the paper over and tucked it away in his pocket. 

Thursday , November 4th 1999

Draco quite liked this boyfriend business, he decided Wednesday morning while getting dressed. Yes he liked it a lot. But most importantly, he liked Ron a lot. A lot. He wasn’t really sure how you’re supposed to do the boyfriend thing but, he knew they could go on dates. He wondered as he picked up his satchel and set off for his first class of the day if he should ask Ron on a date in potions later, but where would they go? He didn’t really want to take him back to Hogsmead, it didn’t feel special enough. He wanted to do something big and grand, but Ron had gotten angry at the fudge or at least annoyed. He was too proud to let Draco spend any money on him. Draco day in his classes waiting for potions, just waiting to be able to see Ron and be able to surprise him with something. Anything. He quickly realised that his time was short and he decided to write Ron a little note. Just a small one, something that he loved about Ron. Maybe a poem. Draco had never said it and he needed too but he loved Ron’s hair. It was so perfect and the last time they kissed he hadn’t been brave enough to touch it. He ripped a spare peice if parchment from his work as quietly as possible and grabbed his quill. The Ravenclaw sitting next to him got nosy, so he leant over the paper before he wrote anything.  
“Your hair is winter fire.   
January Embers.   
My heart burns there to.”  
(For my IT fanatics out there I see you)   
When Draco got to potions, he was a minute or so behind and Ron grinned smugly.  
“Plan on being late do you Malfoy?” Draco punched him lightly on the arm and sat down, thanking him for getting all the ingredients out and looking at new mixtures. He pulled the note out of his pocket and pushed it over the table towards Ron, as Ron had once done for him. He didn’t expect Ron to be doing the same thing with a sheet of paper. Draco picked up the paper and Ron picked up the small note. Ron’s note was smaller but still made his heart shake erratically. He felt tears prick the back of his eyes and he smiled at Draco, but Draco was reading his note, grinning widely and tears were streaming down his face. Ron laughed and folded Draco’s note up, tucking it in his shirt pocket. Draco read Ron’s note all the way through in absolute astonishment, and immediately after finishing it , turned it over and scribbled a note on the back of it. Passing it back to Ron, he raised his hand and asked to go to the bathroom. Ron was confused and tried to quietly call Draco back but he was out the door before Ron could get his attention, what if he forgot the time they were supposed to meet? Ron flipped the paper over quickly. Draco’s hand writing was like silk, or liquid gold. It flowed from letter to letter so perfectly and gently, every word was a clear kind of cursive, and Ron was is awe but embarrassment of his shaky hand.   
“Wait five minutes, then come to the bathroom, the second floor bathroom, I’ll be waiting for you there.”   
Ron’s stomach jumped and so did his heart. He tried to stifle his grin and absentmindedly poured some more of those blue healing leaves into the potion. They’d gone back the lavender idea and were just trying to take away from it now, so that it became less sleep inducing. The professor could kind of see that everyone was working through their projects much faster than anticipated so he said they were to create another potion, an opposite to what they were creating. They planned to start that when the new year hit, they needed to absolutely perfect this one before starting on another. Or so Draco had said. After a few more minutes of distractedly stirring and reading he raised his hand and was allowed to go to the toilet. He rushed out at the dungeon, and tried to keep his pace to a calm walk, but soon his calm walk turned into a speed walk, and his speed walk turned into a jog and when he was around the corner from the bathrooms his jog turned into a run. He pushed his way through the door to the boys bathroom and whipped his head around, but Draco was already there, on his neck. Kissing every inch of skin he could see and Ron melted into his touch, wrapping his hands around Draco’s waist and squeezing. Draco pulled away from Ron’s neck and smiled gently.   
“You’ve got a way with words Weasley. I’ll give you that. Thank you, so much. You make me feel cared for you.”  
“You sure cared for.” Ron whispered connecting his lips to Draco’s. 

They left the bathroom disheveled and much later and rushed to collect there things from Potions. Ron made sure Draco knew to meet outside the potions classroom at 7 on Saturday and went off to the rest of his day. His seemed to be in a daze when he arrived at dinner, people had been giving him strange looks all day but he’d neglected to notice in his cloud of happiness and Hermione noticed first. She’d always been the observant one.   
“What happened to you? Did someone punch you?” Ron shook his head and broke out of his daze, looking across at Hermione.  
“Huh? What?”  
“You’ve got a bruise Ronald,” said Hermione, Ron began to fill up his plate.  
“Oh Merlin.” Harry exclaimed looking up to see what Hermione was talking about, “That’s not a bruise, that’s a hickey!”  
Harry leant over to touch it and Ron leant back. Ron looked at his reflection in his spoon, it was warped but sure enough, without noticing, Draco had left a hickey on his neck. It was purple and red and pink around the edges. He looked up, past Harry and across the Great Hall. Straight at Draco. Draco was already staring at him, looking anything but apologetic. Ron stares daggers at him. Draco Malfoy, he thought  
“I’ll kill you.” He mouthed menacingly and flashed a grin at Draco. He watched Draco shudder and added a wink for extra measure. He began wolfing down his dinner, not in any sort of unusual way and Draco grimaced. He was adorable but he could be disgusting sometimes.   
He knew very well he had left Ron with a hickey and he supposed he just... neglected to tell him. He’d decided, staring at Ron as he walking into the Great hall to eat, that he really really liked having something that was a reminiscent of him on Ron. Staining Ron’s skin, a constant reminder that Ron was his and his alone. Maybe Draco was a little possessive. Just a little. 

Saturday, November 6th 1999

It was 6.30 and no one else was up just like Ron had planned. Everything was prepared, now he just had to get Draco. He put on a green top and blue faded jeans. He grabbed the second box of fudge Draco had given him after their evening at Hogsmead and headed downward the dungeons. As an after thought, he made a pit stop at the kitchens, talking to the elves briefly he grabbed some food while they were distracted, a little bit of toast for them both and some chicken and veg for lunch. He surprising successfully managed to transfigure a small hand bag one of the elves was carrying into a picnic basket. Filling it up, he finally headed off to the dungeons, smiling all the way. The castle was still dark, everything was shaded in a purplish blue and Eon had to use the light of his wand to find his way through the halls and down the dangerous stair cases of Hogwarts. When he arrived at the Dungeons it was 7.03 and Draco was already there.  
“Plan on being late do you Weasley?”   
Ron laughed and walked over to him, struggling to see in the unlit dungeons. He stumbled and Draco caught him by the arm.  
“So where to my Prince Charming?” Draco said playfully, eyeing the basket on Ron’s arm and thinking about how cold it was outside.   
“First of all,” Ron pulled out the fudge,” this is for you, I can’t buy you an actual present so I’m doing a bit of cheeky regifting here, sorry,”   
“Shut up,” he said taking the fudge,”Thank you Ron.”  
Ron smiled and walked Draco back up the stairs. He kept climbing the floors up and up through the castle. Draco walked in comfortable silence with Ron but after a while his legs were getting achey,  
“What floor are we on?”  
“Sixth,” Ron told him squeezing his hand with was intertwined loosely with his own, “Not long now I promise Dray.” Draco couldn’t even think about his aching legs, after Ron had called him that name. His heart beat so fast, he hoped Ron couldn’t here the drumming. They arrived on the seventh floor and passed the statue of Barnabas the Barmy. Ron told Draco to go wait by the opposite wall as he walked across the door 3 times.  
“ I need a peaceful place I can spend the day with Draco. I need a peaceful place I can spend the day with Draco. I need a peaceful place I can spend the day with Draco,” he paused and then thought with every part of his being, “Please, there’s nowhere else we can go.” The judgement of other student over gay people and Draco’s deatheaters days.  
Surely but slowly, the door opened to the most amazing room. It’s got cream walls and a lovely grey carpet. On the far side there’s a plush deep grey sofa, and on the two sides there’s windows that are impossible to see through but that are letting low, orange sunlight shine into the room. In the middle of the room was a picnic blanket, which Ron thought was totally perfect, and he thanked who ever had created this room (most likely Helga Hufflepuff, he went in and slipped off his shoes, wriggling his toes on the soft carpet through the holes in his socks. He placed the basket down on the blanket and turned to see Draco, shoes off but hesitant at the door, he was wearing a cloak that looked like it was trying to be not expensive but clearly was. He removed it to reveal a long tie dyed grey and white t-shirt and black trousers. Ron admired him for a moment and then put out a hand towards him. Draco shut the door quietly behind him, it was a rustic wooden door painted the same crew as the walls on this side. Draco walked over to Ron carefully and looked around the room, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips. He sat carefully on the blanket and looked over at Ron who was settling cross legged into the blanket opposite them.  
“This is lovely, Ron, lovely.”  
“Thanks but I guess I can’t take all the credit Dray,” he looked around the room and took in the smell of it. Something between mint and spearmint. If that even made any sense. Draco’s breath stuttered in his throat, the room was so quiet Ron noticed and paused in his removal of their toast.   
“Dray?” Draco made eye contact with him and smiled impossibly wide. Ron smiled back though he was still confused, but Draco’s glistening smile was contagious, “What is it?”  
“That name, I, I really like that name.”  
“Oh...perfect.” Ron smiles knowingly,  
“That’s perfect Dray,” he said placing a hand on Draco’s thigh as he said it, enjoying too much the shiver that ran over Draco as he said it.   
“Hm. Interesting,” he said handing Draco his toast, “I think I’ll be using that as pay back for this, yeah?” He said tapping the fading hickey on his neck. Draco smiled, cunningly, not apologetically. He took a bite of his toast.  
“I regret nothing.”   
Ron jumped at Draco, wrapping his arms around Draco’s waist and knocking him over, his toast out of his hand. Draco was shocked at first but then he just started laughing, uncontrollably. It rolled through his body and caught onto Ron, who held himself up over Draco by his arms. When they finally calmed down Ron lowered himself onto Draco, slowly, and kissed him on the nose, and then on the mouth. After a few seconds, just when Draco was getting into it, putting his hands in the back of Ron’s hair and pulling him closer, Ron (against the judgement of his body) pulled away from Draco and back up onto his knees and carried on eating the last of his toast. Pretending his boyfriend wasn’t laying in front of him, heaving air in and licking his lips I’m confusion.  
“When I said I’d kill you, Dray, I didn’t mean actually kill you.” Ron laughed taking a huge bite of his toast and chewing slowly,” I meant tease you.”   
“That’s-very-Slytherin-of-you-Ron.” Said Draco between breaths and Eon laughed, pulling him up by the arms. 

They forgot to eat lunch, and so the chicken ended up being dinner. They’d been so distracted in their kissing and talking. They just now talking and didn’t stop. There was no silence that was awkward between them, no topic they couldn’t talk about. Ron had found out that Draco loves reading, muggle books had recently become his favourite. He enlightened Ron on how much muggles liked to write about magic and how much they got wrong. Ron talked about how when he left 8th year he was thinking about helping out his brother with his shop, and Draco said that was a brilliant idea. It had been hard for Ron to hold back the tears but he could see in Draco’s eyes that if he really needed to cry that would be okay, even here, on their first proper date.   
When they ate dinner they did it on the sofa. Draco liked running his hands up and down the material of the sofa, it was nice to the touch.   
“I always see you eating this at dinner, are you sure too much chicken doesn’t cause some sort of brain deficiency Weasley?” Ron snorted but never the less took a lightly smaller bite of the chicken leg he had up to his mouth. After everything was done and eaten and Draco had pretty much forced Ron to use his cloak to wipe his Merlin damn mouth before Draco threw up, they rolled up the picnic blanket and lay back on the soft carpet. Draco’s head resting on Ron’s chest, lifting with every breath Ron took. Draco drummed his fingers across the side of Ron’s chest his head wasn’t laying on. Ron was whispering into his hair.  
“Hm?” Ron raises his voice but lay his head back,  
“This had been wonderful. Thank you. “Thank me? Thank you? You’re the one who planned all of this. The one that got up before noon.” Ron laughed, it shook through Draco and he almost lost all his dignity and snuggled into the warmth of it.   
“I’ll have you know, Mr Malfoy, that I’m usually up way before 10 O’clock at least.”  
“Sure you are Ronnie, sure you are.” He hadn’t thought about the name, it wasn’t even a nick name technically. It was an extension of his name actually, and it just felt natural. Ron’s name for him was small, harsher somehow, it was silver and grey and autumn leaves and very Draco. Ronnie was long and warm, summer evenings and blue skies. Very Ron. But he still took note of the way Ron’s breath seemed to have a bit of a hard time getting back to its normal pace, as did his heart. He didn’t mention it verbally but it made him smile and he poked Ron in the side. 

When came time to say goodbye, Ron shrunk the hand bag back to its original size and tried his best to sear every second of the day into his head. They had walked slowly back to the dungeons, neither of them wanted this day to end, but as the light seemed to have not changed since they were here for this morning, the day actually WAS coming to an end. When they got to the outside of Draco’s dorm, Ron leant down and out his hands around Draco’s waist, gently. He stared into Draco’s deep grey eyes that were clouded with both black and white. Draco lent him and placed his lips on Ron’s, gently, and then pulled away after not long at all, he moved his lips up and kisses Ron on the forehead.   
“Thank you for today. Sleep well Ronnie.”  
“Thank you Dray, take care of yourself, I’ll see you soon.” And with that he pulled the note Draco had given back to him the other day from his jean pocket and gave it back to Draco.  
“This is yours, Dray, and so am I.”


	8. Family Meetings and Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas. Eek

Wednesday, December 15th 1999.

Ron was going home for Christmas. Draco was not. They had been sitting in the library quietly one nice Wednesday evening, snow falling slowly outside the window.  
“Come to the burrow with me.” Ron whispered, to Draco. Draco had no plans to go anywhere for Christmas but Hogwarts.   
“Ronnie I’d love too but, I don’t know about your family.”  
“Oh come on! As soon as they get to know you-“ Draco cut him off with a groan,” okay okay ! When they see how happy you make me, they’ll be glad to- don’t pull that face Dray,” Ron said, lowering his voice when the librarian stared daggers at him, books floating slowly over her head to their dependant shelves. Draco didn’t hate the idea, after all he’d never seen Ron’s house and Ron didn’t exactly have the fondest memories of his. He only saw a few real problems, he’d dealt with plenty of judgement in his past so he was really only worried about,  
“Won’t you have to come out Ronnie?”  
“Oh...well yeah, I probably will.”  
“Then we shouldn’t, I don’t want you under any kind of pressure to decide any kind of label or-“  
“Dray,” Ron said softly picking up Draco’s hand from the table and pulling it up to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss there, “thank you but I think I’ve already chosen a label which fits me.”  
“Oh?” They hadn’t spoken about it for quite a while, Draco wanted to avoid putting pressure on Ron or making him feel rushed, and Ron wanted to avoid pressure.  
“Yeah, I think I’m, I mean I might be,” he took a shaky breath and it fanned out over Draco’s hand that was still at his lips, which made Draco’s stomach do a flip.   
“I’m Bisexual.”  
“Oh.”  
“Are you surprised ?”  
“No.”  
“So you knew?”  
“No”  
“But you’re not surprised.”  
“Do you want me to be surprised, Ron?”  
“-I don’t know.”  
“Well,” Draco took and breath and locked eyes with Ron, trying to stop the shaking of his hands, especially the one sitting at Ron’s lips.  
“I love you.”  
Ron didn’t have to think too much before responding, kissing Draco’s finger tips gentle,  
“I love you too.” (For all my Love Simon fans out there, yes I see you).   
“I’m ready to tell them. To be with you. Openly. I’m not ashamed and I never will be.”

Ron could’ve sat there all day, staring at Draco, hands folded in each other on the table next to their books.   
“I’ll start packing today,” Ron grinned impossibly wide and kissed Draco, hard and sloppy, leaning across the table to get to him. It got them kicked out of the library, but it was so worth it.

“So, what do you think Mum and Dad are gonna say?” They we’re sitting in the common room, in front of the crackling fire in a sort of semi circle. Harry and Ginny were opposite Ron on the left of the fire and Ron was on the right, Hermione in the middle. That is if you were looking from the dorm entrances. Hermione was stretched and leaning on her elbows, wriggling her toes in a very un-Hermione like way.   
“What if they kick Malfoy out?” Harry snorted and Ginny jabbed him in the ribs lightly.   
“Don’t be ridiculous Harry! Mr and Mrs Weasley aren’t like that, and besides, Ron’s going to write them a letter in advance, are you Ron?”  
“Actually,” Ron started and Hermione gave him a puzzled but knowing look, she was used to his idiocy, “I was thinking it could be more of a surprise sort of thing.”  
“Ronald Weasley, you’re so stupid sometimes!”  
“Harsh much Mione! What do you mean?”  
“Well first of all, you can’t exactly arrive on your families doorstep with a former deatheators son, a deatheator himself for that matter out of the blue. And secondly, they’ll have to prepare a room for Draco won’t they?”  
“He can just bunk with me and Harry.”  
“You think your parents are going to let you and your boyfriend sleep in the same bed? Are you on something?” Ron looked to Harry for back up but Harry and Ginny seemed to be taking Hermione’s side on this one.  
“Not to cock block you or anything mate-“ Ron cringed,” but you have to put yourself in a parents mind. The fact you’re- I mean you know- gay-“  
“I’m not gay Harry, I’m Bi, but carry on.”  
“Right, sorry of course mate, the fact your Bi and dating a boy will come as a shock already, then the added shock that, that boy is Draco Malfoy, you need to be careful about this.”  
“Okay, okay I surrender, you’re right. So what room can he stay in?”  
“He can always stay in our room?” Ginny piped up, “I mean he’s Gay, and in a relationship, and he can stay on the floor.”  
“Draco Malfoy, sleep on the floor? Yeah you’re gonna have to maybe rethink that one Gin,” snorted Ron and the rest of them agreed in giggles, “ okay then, we’ll transfigure him a bed, or somebody will, but we’re agreed the plan is mine and Hermione’s room?” They all nodded, Ron got really quiet for a few minutes. Then he looked up and said,   
“Thank you guys for not giving me shit about this, for being okay with me and Dray.”   
“Of course Ron, we would’ve anything but.” Said Harry, and then he mouthed ‘Dray’ when the girls looked away and winked. Ron cringed again. 

Monday, December 20th 1999

They were on the train, Ron, Draco, Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Luna and Blaise has crowded themselves into one carriage and were squashed in. Kind of recklessly, Luna was sat on the floor of the carriage. As the most unlikely pair, Blaise and Luna hit it off talking very quickly, and they seemed to be very deep in conversation, after a while Hermione joined their chat, but staying on her seat.   
Harry and Ginny were having their own quiet conversations and Draco and Ron took upon themselves to do the same.  
“God I’m nervous, I’m sweating in places I didn’t even know I could sweat.” Draco panted, putting a hand on the back of his neck.   
“Dray, relax, it’s going to be okay, trust me, they’ll love you.”  
“I’m sure they’ll love it when they see their son jump off the train hand in hand with a Malfoy. Yeah they’ll just love that.”  
“Draco. Listen. First of all, they don’t pick us up at the platform, we’re adults, second of all, reiterating the we’re adults thing, I’m sure they’ll love you, but if they don’t it doesn’t matter. Their opinion isn’t as strong as how I feel about you. Okay?” While he was talking, Ron had absentmindedly placed a hand on Draco’s thigh. Draco could only nod in agreement, as he was afraid of talking, he knew how shaky his voice would sound. Ron pathed his leg gentle and rub his thumb in a circle on the inside of Draco’s thigh, luckily for Draco, the carriage, Merlin the TRAIN was loud, so Ron didn’t catch the way his breath hitched up in his throat.   
“We’re here.” Draco said quietly, to Ron, who’d fallen asleep in his shoulder, snoring gently. Draco looked at him, his soft freckles and the red in his cheeks, hair, and eyelashes. He tried to soak Ron in, to accept that the perfect boy in front of him was actually his, but his heart couldn’t take it. He thought he might combust, Hermione looked over at them.  
“Oh, Draco that’s not how you do it,” she grinned wickedly, “Watch and learn.” And with that she walked over, grabbed Ron by the from of his shirt, and shook him.   
“Wake up Ronald!” Ron awoke with a start,   
“Bloody Hell!” And wiped just eyes, looking around bewildered. They were the only three left in the carriage.  
“Thank you ? I think ? For assaulting my boyfriend?” They laughed and Draco grabbed his trunk and Ron’s, Hermione pulled Ron’s arm, dragging him off the train. Once they were on platform 9 3/4, Ron was awake enough for Draco to hand him his trunk.  
“God what do you have in there Weasley, thing must weigh a tonne.”  
“Your Christmas present Malfoy, Ron said, grabbing Draco’s spare hand and waving goodbye to Luna and Blaise as they spun and apparated. Ron landed with a thud on his butt on the dusty path, as did Harry, but both Hermione and Draco landed on there feet. Hermione with a slight bit dignified stumble, and Draco like a cat. Perfect. Draco offered Ron his hand and Ron took it happily. Draco went to let go when Ron was up on his feet, but Ron wouldn’t budge his fingers from Malfoy’s.  
“Go big or go home right?”  
Draco laughed quietly, and then took a second to admire Ron’s house. House was a stretch of a word. This place was very narrow, but small, and it looked as if it was being held together by a single piece of string. Draco looked at every floor, there seemed to be as many as Hogwarts had. Ron took in his reaction.  
“Maybe this was a mistake, it’s no better in the inside and it’s nothing like your mansion, and aren’t we basically like, third cousins anyways?”  
Draco shushed him with a finger.  
“Ron, I want this. I want you.” He squeezed his hand with Ron’s,” this house is beautiful. Lived in. And third cousins through marriage dingbat.” Said Draco kissing his hand, “Let’s not think about it too much.”   
“Yeah,” Ron laughed rubbing the back of his neck, “let’s not.”  
Harry and Ginny got to the door first, and Draco concealed himself a little behind Ron. He was unreal levels of nervous. Hermione stood behind them , she tapped Draco’s shaking shoulder reassuringly.   
“Harry! Ginny! Oh sears come on in out of of the frost and cold, oh Ron move out of the way let Hermione in, oh it’s so good to see you all!”  
Molly Weasley was ecstatic to have her kids all back under one roof, even just for a little while. Ron smiled at his mum, and his brother and father who were crowding round the door.   
Harry and the girls had gone inside, leaving him and Draco on the doorstep.   
“Hey everyone. Please don’t freak out,” he pulled Draco out from behind him, softly, and put his arm around his waist.   
“Oh!” Said Molly, and everyone else looked just as puzzled.  
“Mr Malfoy?”   
“Mum, Dad, everybody else, aside from those of you who already know, obviously,” he heard Harry snort,” as you know, this is Draco, Draco, this is my family. Everyone, Draco is my-“ Ron paused and took a deep breath, and used Draco’s waist as his rock. Used Draco as his rock, keeping him stable and calm.  
“Draco’s my boyfriend.”   
There was a stunned silence as everyone soaked this in, Draco smiled, he took in the astonished gazes and tried to brush it off. He put his hand out towards Ron’s father. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr Weasley,” Ron’s dad shook his hand in a state of shock, “You too Mrs Weasley,” Draco took Mollys hand and quickly put his lips to it, shaking it gently.   
“I’m sure this comes as a huge shock Mum, but could you just let us come in and explain?”  
Ron’s three eldest brothers, his Father and his Mother took a step back and let them in, everyone went to sit down in the living room. Someone must’ve reported back to George, who had gotten into the habit of coming out of his room, because as they sat down, George came stumbling down stairs, looking a little worse for wear but grinning cheekily. Draco tried to wash the nerves away and let his Slytherin confidence take charge. He and Ron sat on the sofa and everyone else crowded around like they were a circus.   
Tip: A good way to come out to your family, sit them down, have a nice conversation, make tea.  
Bad way to com out to your family, show up with your boyfriend who is an enemy of your family and has been for years.  
“Hi.” Said Draco to everyone, and Harry couldn’t help it, he bust out laughing and Ginny had to excuse them. Chastising him all the way to the kitchen. Molly smiled,   
“I trust you Ron, and even though this is... rather peculiar, I’d love to here the story.”  
“We allll would.” Said George, standing at the door looking smug. Percy analysed Ron, he was the first to ask a question, the one Ron had been expecting, but it still made his hands shake. He hid one in his pocket and one behind Draco.  
“Are you Gay?”  
“Not exactly,” Malfoy discreetly used his pinkie finger to rub the side of Ron’s leg, to calm him down.   
“I’m bisexual, Draco’s gay.”  
“Indeed,” Draco nodded.  
“Right,” Molly said absorbing this.  
“It means I like boys and girls, Mum.”   
“Right.” Molly said again, she was baffled clearly.  
“Still,” leered George from the doorway, he seemed more inclined to make jokes about this than anything else, “How did this happen?”  
Draco decided that Ron’s nerve was coming to an end, he’d rode his bravery far enough to come out, and now it was puttering out.  
“We met in potions,” Draco took over, voice smooth, he could feel every ounce of the reason the sorting hat had put him in Slytherin slipping off his tongue, and yet he stayed polite and approachable.  
“We had to worm together on a project, and we realised that, we had a lot more in common than we thought.”   
“I hope you guys don’t mind, I decided to bring Draco over a surprise, is it okay if he stays here over the break ? We were thinking in Mione and Ginny’s room?”  
“Well, you will have to be telling us more about yourself soon Draco, but as long as you’re here, the more the merrier!” Some of Ron’s brothers looked against the idea, but Ron shot them glares that physically shook them. Molly and the girls, Ginny when she returned back to the front room with a sorry looking Harry, showed Draco to his room, chattering all the way. It was just the men left in the living room. Things were quiet.   
“So, Draco Malfoy Huh?”  
“Yeah. I guess so.” Ron couldn’t help it, just Draco’s name made his heart flutter.   
“I’m happy for you son, as long as you’re happy. I’d love to get to know this Draco better, he hasn’t been the kindest in the past, but I trust your judgement.”  
“He’s the best Dad, he really is, the real him. Not the him he was under his parents. I- I love him.” Charlie looked shocked,  
“And here I was thinking us two would be the two single ones. Together in our solidarity.”  
“Sorry Charles,” mocked Ron throwing a pillow in his direction, which swooped over his head and was caught by Bill.  
Bill gave Ron a long look, “Love is a strong word Ron. You have to be sure, Draco hasn’t been the nicest-“  
“He’s changed. Really he has. Do you think he’d be here if he hadn’t? And he wasn’t such a horrible person back- back then either. Don’t pull that face George, it was mostly his parents.”  
“As long as you’re sure Ron,”   
“About Dray? I’ve never been more sure of anything.”   
“We don’t have anything to worry about, having him stay in the girls room do we?” Said Percy, looking very distracted by the idea of Draco Malfoy trying something.  
“I wouldn’t worry,” said Draco walking back down the stairs, cloak and trunk abandoned, “I’m very gay, and very in love with your son.” He sat back down and, rather boldly, took Ron’s hand in his. 

Saturday, December 25th 1999

No one got this excited on Christmas morning at Draco’s house. Not ever. Christmas was a formal event at the Malfoy’s. People wore nice clothes and took their time in the morning to get dressed. Christmas was not like that at the Weasleys. He was awoken not on his own terms but by a squealing Ginny Weasley. And he wasn’t even angry about it. He’d spent the last five days getting I know the family, and them getting to know him. It had been a strange and awkward arrangement. It was difficult for everyone to wrap their head around the idea that this Draco was a good person, that he didn’t want the things he’d done in the past and that he’d grown out of his privileged and cruel ways. On his thirds day here, while him and Ron has been in the kitchen in a rare lonely moment, George and Bill came in.   
“Are we interrupting?” Ron had been leaning in for a kiss with Draco, who was sitting on the table, Ron standing between his legs.   
“What does it look like?” Ron had laughed giving Draco room for drop off the table.   
“Like you guys are up for a game of Quidditch in the snow?”  
They’d played a good match, without a snitch so Draco was at a disadvantage. He didn’t really play well anywhere else, and so offered to be beater with George. The entire garden had gone silent when he’d said that. He swore he could here the snow as it hit the ground. Ron had bent low and whispered in Draco’s ear,   
“That was what Fred used to do.”  
“It’s okay Ron, here you go Malfoy,” George handed Draco the bat, and Draco felt up the weight of it in his hands. Before the started playing, he put a hand on George’s shoulder.   
“Thanks Weasley, I’m sorry about your brother, I really, really am.”  
As Ron had told him later that evening, George really appreciated that. Fred had become the silent sadness over the house, never spoken of, but always there, haunting everyone. Normalising it made it easier, helped George heal.

Yes, Christmas morning was hectic. He had heard everyone stumble and run their way down the stairs as he pulled on a dressing gown and joined them, tentative and slow. Ron had already joined the mass crowd heading towards the tree, but Harry was going at the same speed as Draco.   
“You get used to it,” Harry laughed at Draco’s bewildered face, “ eventually.”  
Downstairs, the amount of gifts didn’t seem to equate to the excitement everyone was showing. Ron grabbed Draco’s hand and pulled him over to kneel beside him as everyone started ripping into their gifts. There seemed to be about two or maybe three gifts per person. Draco wasn’t used to this, he wasn’t complaining, he usually had over 50+ presents laid out in a perfect pyramid in front of him. But there was no sense of family. His mother always sat near him, watching him open his expensive gifts, but his Father was always locked away in his office till dinner, which was prepared by the elves. This Christmas was far superior, and the childlike look of golden wonder in Ron’s eyes was worth endless Christmas gifts. Ron hadn’t opened anything yet though, Draco realised. Ron picked up a present, it was poorly wrapped but the wrapper had clearly tried their hardest. Ron looked so eager, he thrust the heavy present into Draco’s arms. Draco laughed and started unwrapping it. It was square and in a box. So he had to open the box. It was small, but had a lot of weight, about the size of his hands. He opened the box carefully. And then he had to hold back tears.   
“You’re making me soft Ronald Weasley.” He said, picking up the snow globe from inside the box. It was beautiful, a forest scene converted in snow. And close up, two boys, one in a green scarf, the other in red, walking out of the woods, hand in hand. Draco actually started crying, he couldn’t help it. He placed the snow globe back in its box.  
“There’s no way you can afford this Ronnie.”  
“Hey, don’t you worry about that Dray,” Ron lifted up Draco’s face with a finger on his chin. He kisses him lightly, murmuring “I love you” against his lips.   
“Get a room!” Yelled either George or Harry from somewhere in the room. Ron didn’t hear it properly, he was too lost in the moment and in Draco’s lips. After another second he pulled away and watched as Draco leant over handing him a familiar shaped box of fudge.  
“I don’t usually buy gifts for other people Ron, but you tipped me over.”  
Ron ripped the gift open, not at all carefully. It made Draco smile at how Ron it was. Ron watched the paper disappear to reveal a Hogsmead box of fudge. Written on the side, in a different language Ron didn’t understand, was a small amount of text. It was in gold and red writing and seemed to be shimmering. On the box was a photo of himself he didn’t know had been taken. He was sitting in the library, head in his hands, obviously and sleep, the photo of him had his head hanging, drool dripping from his bottom lip, then something wakes him and he gets up quickly. Snorting and spitting.   
“Draco this is so gross.”  
“Draco,” said George leaving over Ron to look, get me a copy of that.   
“Open the fudge Ronald.”  
“Right now? I was gonna save it-“  
“It’s part of the gift Ronnie, you’ll see.”  
“Uh-okay ?”  
He opened the fudge and picked up a square. It had the word “Dray” written on it in silver lettering. Another block had the word “Ronnie” in gold.   
“Dray... this is too much.”  
“It’s not enough. Nowhere near enough.” Draco lay his head on Ron’s shoulder.  
“But what does this say? Cano bruma ignis  
January caudis titionum fumigantium  
Ut ardeat cor meum? That’s Latin isn’t it? I recognise the January at least-“ Draco lowered his voice and out his lips to Ron’s ear.  
“Your hair is winter fire,  
January embers,  
My heart burns there to.”  
Ron shivered at the closeness of Draco’s voice. He smiled and whispered back  
“I love you, Dray.”  
“I love you more, Ronnie.”  
Ron had moved on to open his other presents from Harry, Hermione and his Father. And then his mother.  
“She always knits is these jumpers, mines always maroon. I hate maroon.”  
Draco laughed,   
“it’s cute... put it onnn.”   
He looked around to see everyone either already wearing or putting on a jumper, the first letter of their name stitched onto it. Even both Hermione and Harry which, must get confusing at some point. Draco noticed another gift was addressed to him. No way. No. Way. Mrs Weasley has knit him his very own jumper, grey, with a black letter D.  
“Thank you so much Mrs Weasley.”  
“Please, call me Molly,” Molly smiled at him.   
Draco felt at home, for the first time in a long time. He kissed Ron in the cheek.  
“Thank you.”


	9. Boyfriends and spiders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS- SPIDERS, HOMOPHBIA, SLURS.  
> Short, really really short, sorry I wanted to get something up. Good things coming soon!

Monday, January 31st 2000

The new year was supposed to bring change. It did not bring enough. Ron didn’t know he could see red. Sure he’d been ridiculously angry before, many times for real reasons that anyone would be angry at. But Ron had never felt it in his veins like this, building up through him like it had been injected into him, he was sure he’d been hexed. There was no way this much red hot rage was running through him, coursing through every blood vessel in his body, sending his usually bashful blush up through to the tips of his hair. He thought his nose might bleed. He could see or hear anything, apart from his own anger, pumping around his body, his heart racing, fists clenching and unclenching. He was trying to calm down. Maybe. The pads of his fingers burned. He was aware of something, no, someone, entering his red hot grill of vision, placing a careful hand on his shoulder, shaking him lightly. The person, whoever they were, Ron wasn’t sure yet, was emitting a calming green, it wasn’t shy. It was harsh, the green knew it was attacking his red, taking it down and replacing it with dark green and the cool hand on his shoulder. The red faded to a pink, and the into the soft blue of the wall in front of him. The green shook him again, it was saying his name now. No. Not his name. A nick-name.  
“Ronnie? Ron? Did I lose you? Hello?”  
Ron took a couple more seconds before he answered, attempting to collect himself, continuing to squeeze his fists, setting crescent scars into the palms of his hands.   
“Dray?”   
“You blanked there for a moment, are you okay?”  
“Yeah yeah, no I’m fine. I just-“ Ron pausing, remembering his reason for getting mad. He tries to focus on Draco next to him. The room of requirement, it’s soft blue walls and plush sofas. They had been having a nice evening after all of their classes of the day, lying back on one of the blue sofa’s, Draco’s head on Ron’s chest. That’s when Draco has said it.   
“Ronnie?” He had whispered quietly into Ron’s chest, Ron had stayed silent in an almost sleep like daze, but gave Draco’s hip a squeeze to indicate he was listening.   
“Earlier today, on the way to Muggle studies-“ Ron smiles gently, this was something Draco had dropped Charms for when they came back into 8th year, Ron was extremely proud of him for it.  
“-I bumped into some other students in the corridor, it was an accident on both our parts, at least I think, besides, I dropped my satchel, and when I bent down to pick it up-“ Ron had set up, and set Draco next to him, he’d never seen Draco get emotional like this. It was out of character for him, and it worried Ron.   
“Go on Dray? What happened?”  
Draco moves to bury his face in Ron’s shirt, he mumbled something and the vibrations lightly tickles Ron.   
“Hm?”  
“They called me bum boy,” said Draco, so quietly that if they hadn’t been the only two in this impossibly quiet room, there is no way in Merlin’s Beard Ron would’ve heard what he said. That’s when the rage had kicked in.   
“-I’m okay. Really.” Draco had lowered his hand to Ron’s thigh and it was distracting enough to calm him down to the point he managed to unclench his fists. He places his hand over Draco’s. He looked down, and then looked back up at the blue wall. Everything was in perfect colour, the rage was in his heart. His fingers wrapped too tight around Draco’s.  
“I’m gonna kill them.” Draco grabbed his hand right back,  
“You’ll do no such thing, honestly hot-headed Gryffindors. There’s so many better ways to deal with this.”  
“Yeah?” Said Ron, not really listening, staring at the sky blue wall, Draco was getting upset again, which them made him angry, more at himself than at Ron. But still.   
“Yes. Like leaving it alone.”  
He made Ron turned to look at him in the eyes, and all the anger seeped out of Ron’s face. He reached over and wiped a tear that had escaped from underneath Draco’s eye.   
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry Dray.” He said, hand still resting under Draco’s ear.   
“It’s not you that should be, but I didn’t even know the boys, they were 7th years, Gryffindors. It doesn’t matter Ron.”  
“You’re right,” Ron said leaning in closer to Draco, “all that matters right now is you.” And with that they were quiet again, lost in each other’s lips.

Unfortunately for Ron, all his calm escaped him as soon as he arrived back in the common room. He knew it was someone in his house, boys, 7th years. That helped a lot more than Draco had ever intended it too. Ron didn’t pay that much attention to faces, but he had Ginny. He walked over to Ginny, and had to scoot around some second years to get there, the common room was pretty packed but, Hermione, Harry and Ginny still had their spots on the sofa and chair. No one was going to start of fight with 8th years or their girlfriends, especially not ones that had fought in a war. Or so Ron had thought, until today.  
“Hey, Gin?” He said as he plonked down a little ways from Hermione, his rage must’ve been showing on his face because they were all looking at each other and then back at him puzzled.  
“Yeah Ron?” Ginny said tentatively, “What’s up?”  
“Who are the boys in your year? In Gryffindor I mean?”  
“Uh? You mean those lot over there?”  
Ron peered over, as did the rest of them to where Ginny was pointing. There sat five boys, all relatively tall, but they had nothing on Ron, it was a similar story in their muscle mass. As a group they could take him, but not one on one. No way.  
“Mate?” Harry said, and Ron turned back around, raising an eyebrow.  
“Yeah?”  
“Why do you look like you’re sizing them up for a fight?”  
“Maybe I am,” said Ron turning back around to stare at the boys, “ Maybe I am.”   
“Uh...sorry we’re all a bit lost here Ron.”   
“Those, idiots over there,” Ron shot them another glance,“ Draco ran into them earlier, they called him a-a-a-“ Ron was starting to get emotional, Hermione put a hand on his harm for a second, he attempted to collect himself.   
“We get the idea Ronald, name calling is awful, I know a thing or two about that.” Ron smiles at Hermione, and Hermione smiled back. He was grateful to her for holding no bad blood towards Draco. He reckons she got it all out in that punch, in their third year.   
“So, I’m gonna kill them.”  
“Fair enough,” said Harry, and Hermione shoot him a look,” Kidding! Ron wouldn’t it be better to just leave it?”  
“That’s what Draco said.”  
“As much as I love being compared to Draco,” Ron snorted,” he might be right. No he definitely is. Ron, leave it.”  
Ron looked around at his friends, they all seemed to be in agreement.   
“Fine! Fine!” Ron said, defeatedly. When they had all began talking again, he peered backwards at the boys. One of them looked over at him and said something Ron couldn’t make out to his friend. They laughed.  
Ron’s cheeks went hot.   
“Fine,” he growled,” for now.”

As per, bloody usual, Ron was late. He was running through the corridors, jumping over gaps in the stairs. Cursing Harry for not waking him up, he looks down to make sure none of his books are falling out behind him, and runs smack bang into someone, knocking them and himself over. He took a moment to collect himself, not physically, he didn’t care about that, but just getting himself up off the floor. He went to offer a hand for who ever he’d knocked down, but withdrew it instantly when he recognised it as one of the 7th year Gryffindor boys.   
“God watch where you’re going faggøt.”   
Ron paused. He imagines Draco in this situation, the pain, the anger, the upset, the way he would’ve gotten up in silence with his head high and moved around them. Still dignified. Ron was in the mood for a little bit of chaos.  
“Sorry, what did you just call me?”  
The boy looked up, his friends took a step closer, they registered Ron’s demeanour and his tie, his flaming red hair and freckles.  
“Oh sorry, sorry I didn’t realise it was you.”  
“You guys ran into my boyfriend the other day.” The boys froze, speechless. Evidently they were all talk, because now faced with someone who had just made it clear to them that he was of some homosexual persuasion, they had no idea what to do with themselves.   
Ron took out his wand. He held it out before him, eyeing the boys, and the one who had scrambled up off the floor to stand back with his friends. He angled his wand at the boy.  
“dictu est nasus,” he said, more calmly than he’d ever performed a spell before, but more emotions running through him. The boy in the middle, the one who had just stood up, began to cough, then he began to rub his nose. He was coughing and sneezing awfully, and tiny, tiny, black spiders, were falling from his nose. His friends jumped back,   
“That’ll wear off soon,” Ron said snidely walking off toward his lesson, not looking back in fear of the spiders he’d just created, “I think?”   
“And if you ever, ever mess with me or my boyfriend again,” he turned as his voice began to fade,” how do the muggles say it? They’ll be hell to pay.”


	10. I don’t feel loved

Chapter 10:

Monday 7th February, 2000

Ron was scared of Draco sometimes. Especially when Draco looked at him like this. They were sitting in McGonagall’s office, the headmasters desk suited her. She looks both powerful and terrifying and Ron didn’t know who he was about to be told of by.   
“Mr Weasley, you hexed a 7th year.” She said as if she was explaining to him how he had ended up here, he knew very well how he had ended up here and he could apologise for it. He’d meant it, in the moment and even now looking back he’d meant it.   
“I’m not going to apologise, I’m sorry professor but I can’t apologise when I meant it.”   
“As I said before, there doesn’t seem to be any provocation, at least not from the boy’s side of things-“  
“I’m sorry Professor but of course he’s not going to tell you the whole story- Draco please.” Draco was staring at Ron, very quiet. Too quiet. He had told McGonagall that he had a part to play in this when he heard she was on the hunt for Ron, but had not said anything of yet. He was just filled with too many emotions. First and foremost, he felt betrayal. He wasn’t 100% familiar with this emotion, as in his past he was the one causing this. But it burned, it burned in his head and in his heart. It didn’t feel like fire though, it wasn’t sharp and stabbing but slow and searing, like a hot poker, being hovering millimetres from his skin. He could feel the heat of it, and it hurt to a certain degree, but it was cushioned. Not by millimetres of air but by compassion. And love. Ron had only been defending him, yes he’d gone against what Draco had asked, yes he’d been a little dramatic about it, but he’d done it because they’d hurt Draco.  
Ron sat squirming, he knew what he’d done was wrong, as unapologetic as he was.  
“Can I at least tell you the whole story?” Ron tried to milk the fact he’d known McGonagall for so long here, tried to get some pity and favouritism out of her. He was sure being sat next to a Slytherin, and Malfoy at that, was taking him down a few points but in the end,  
“Okay, this does appear to be quite interesting, and I’m intrigued that Mr Potter and Mis Granger aren’t also sitting in front of me,” she cast a tiny, imperceptible glance at Draco, and then gazed at Ron over her glasses, giving him the silent cue to continue. 

“And so you see Professor,” Ron said, swallowing thickly after finishing his maybe slightly too long winded story, “ I’m not going to apologise, not to you, not to him and certainly,” he cast a quiet and shy look back to Draco,” not to you Dray. I was doing what I thought was right. If that’s gets me a detention then, so be it.”  
Ron had thought he was being slick, at least a little, being brave and maybe getting himself out of the knot he’d ravelled around his own neck. Unfortunately, the incident did land him a detention. A Saturday detention. When him and Draco had stepped off of the moving staircase, and back into the bustling Hogwarts corridors, people were transitioning between classes, Draco had looked at Ron upset. Ron was no longer scared, but guilt was just eating him alive,   
“Dray- look I- I meant it okay? I’m not just gonna stand around and let people treat you like that-“  
“But I asked you not too. I didn’t want you acting out like that.”  
“Look they insulted me too! I wasn’t just gonna sit and take that quietly Draco-“  
“But now they’re going to be actively looking for me Ron!” Draco seethed, Ron went quiet, he was staring at Draco, and stupid tears were stinging the backs of his eyes. Draco was staring at the other side of the corridor.  
“Draco-“  
“No Ron, just forget it.” And with that, Draco turned on his heal and melded himself into the crowd of bustling students. Before Ron could say a word, Draco had turned a corner, out of Ron’s line of sight. 

Saturday 12th February, 2000

Ron had been avoiding Draco all week. He was ashamed to be around him and didn’t know what to say or do. It felt as if the friendship and the close part of their relationship had been ripped away, and Ron knew it was his fault. In potions, though Ron struggled, he didn’t speak to Draco outside of the needed and he left quickly to avoid seeing Draco in the halls. By the end of the week, Ron felt like he was starving. But this kind of starving hurt worse than actually starving, it made his heart sting, and his body slouch. Nothing his friends said could cheer him up, no amount of food or quidditch practice with Harry could shake him out of his slumber. He missed Draco, he missed him bad, like he was some kind of drug abuser and his supply had been withdrawn, these were the side effects. He knew he’d messed up, betrayed Draco’s trust but, he hadn’t expected Draco to snub him. There was a part of him, and he wasn’t sure how little or large that part was, that was entirely stubborn. It wanted to continue to ignore Draco, as Draco had been doing to him. And there was another part of him, the part that lives in his heart and seemed to be eating it little by little, causing a pain in his chest that resembled hunger pangs, the part that wanted to crawl back into Draco’s arms and apologise a thousand times and just have Draco back again in their perfect little bubble in the Room Of Requirement. This part of Ron seems to be managing his face, and it cruelly makes his eyes sting with tears. But for the first time in a long time, he can’t stop them from spilling over, rushing down his face, meeting with the ones falling out of his nostrils. He pushed his way clumsily into the near by boys lavatory and again clumsily into a stall. He locked the door and, checking to make sure there was no one else in there, let the tears fall. After a while, he began to sob, shoulders shaking, breath heaving, child like tantrum, embarrassing sobbing, and his face was raw from the salt of his tears. He didn’t even bother to wipe them anymore, just let them fall down his face and to his neck, some dripping off, falling a small puddle below him. Mid way through one quite, racking sob, he must sound like moaning myrtle to the people walking past, he heard the distinct sound of the door opening. He rushed to quiet himself, which wasn’t the easiest thing, and was settling into small sniffles and aggressively wiping his face, when there was a timid knock on the cubicle door. Ron found this rather confusing, people don’t usually knock on cubicle doors rather, they just see if any are empty, and Ron knew from his check earlier that every other single stall in the toilet was empty. So who would knock on this one? Someone who knew he was there. Or maybe they were looking for some other sad, crying sap. Evidently, this person knew Ron wasn’t doing his business in there, because they must’ve silently cast ‘Alohomora’. The lock on the door clicked open, and slowly, the hand of whoever was on the other side pushed open the door. After a while of awakened door creaking, and Ron being too afraid to say something clever like   
“Hey, occupied?” Or “ocupado senor,” he was met with a pair of familiar grey eyes. They’re wet, and the boy looks as if he’s been crying like Ron, and his tie was loose, Ron had never seen him look so disheveled. Ron didn’t want to say any words right now, he took one look at Draco and pulled him into a bone crushing hug, as they both fell apart on each other’s shoulders. Anyone who walked in would’ve seen quite the site, two Slytherin and Gryffindor 8th year boys, the ones who fought on opposite sides of the same war, crying in each other’s arms. Tears and sobs and ‘I love yous’ and ‘I’m sorrys’ falling literally everywhere. At some point, Draco stops crying, he’s got his arms securely around Ron’s waist and has his face buried in Ron’s chest, which is still heaving sobs as Ron mutters how sorry he is into Draco’s hair over and over again. Ron’s knees fold underneath him and they’re both on the floor, Draco with his arms around Ron, and Ron continuing to sob harshly.   
“Ronnie, Ronnie it’s okay it’s okay. Ronnie it’s okay.” Draco reaches over and wipes the last of Ron’s tears from his face. “I’m so sorry, for not talking to you for being so angry for everything, I get it now I can see it now really, you- Ron you didn’t do anything wrong- I should be thanking you right now. I am trying too-“ Draco was halted by Ron’s lips pressing to his. This kiss wasn’t violent, the kiss was careful, and it was soft. Like a conversation, one they didn’t need to have. The hairs on the back of Ron’s neck stood on end. He pulled away from Draco, slowly.   
“I love you.” He brushes a white strand of hair from Draco’s face.   
“And I you, Weasley.” Draco had unwittingly placed his hand on Ron’s thigh, and Ron hadn’t even realised it until right this second. He looked down at it, it’s angle, and he kissed Draco again, impossibly soft and full of passion.   
“I can get you out of that pesky detention if you like?” Said Draco, his hands in Ron’s hair, caressing Ron’s scalp.   
“Hm?” Ron didn’t think he could talk, Draco’s hand felt like literal heaven on his head, he was struggling to register his words.   
“Yeah, I mean not technically,” said Draco, making the ‘y’ long and carried out,” but we could sneak off.”  
“We could? I mean, yes, yes we could.”

Draco regrets giving Ron fire whiskey. In his defence, he had literally no idea what a drunk Ron would be like. They had decided to go down to Hogsmead for the evening and Draco had insisted on buying Ron drinks as he was still convincing Ron was out pocketing himself for Draco’s valentines gift. After Ron’s 7th fire whiskey, Draco started to get a little concerned. Ron gets drunk in a rather strange way, you can’t see it on him at all, drink after drink he keeps going, tipping them back, and still nothing, and then all of a sudden, he’s totally flat out stumbling, slurring his words, singing and shouting. In a way it’s absolutely totally adorable. It’s getting late, and the other customers at the bar are starting to get a little annoyed at Ron’s antics, so Draco takes Ron’s arm and pulls him outside, the cold almost spring air hits Ron’s face and seems to sober him a tiny bit.   
“Hey!” Ron slurs, pulling his arm away from Draco’s grip harshly. Draco looks at him, very confused, he reaches for Ron’s hand again, but Ron withdraws. His face is tired and almost angry in the shady light of the street lamps, the sun is setting now, the sky is very purple and everything is washed in grey.   
“I-“ Ron gulps sure deeply, like he was holding his breath and Draco almost laughs, “ have a boyfriend.”  
Draco pauses, wildly confused for a moment, and then it registers, Ron doesn’t recognise him. It almost hurts, but it’s so funny and so so goddamn cute.   
“You do?” Draco says slyly, following close next to Ron, in his slow drunken stumble up to the castle. He wants to play along, see what Ron has to say. Drunken words are sober thoughts after all.  
“Yeah I do so don’t touch-“ Ron does another gulping breath,” meeeeeeee.”  
Draco is trying very very hard to hold in his laughter.  
“Okay okay! I won’t touch you.”  
“Yeah cause- cause my boyfriend,” he gives a small hiccup, “he’s so strong, he’ll mess you up.”  
“Will he now?”  
“Yeah he’s so so so strong and, whoah-“ Ron gets a dreamy look about him, “ he’s so pretty, man. Like his eyes. And his face I just never get enough of his face. Merlin it’s pretty. Like he’s so, soft? And when he kisses me,” Ron giggled, which Draco didn’t hear a lot and it made his heart stutter. He couldn’t believe Ron was gushing about him like this,  
“He’s so soft on the inside, even though he acts real hard on the outside. I know he hurts sometimes.” Ron became a little withdraw, his face became grave. Draco went to put a hand on Ron’s arm, but paused and chose to instead wait quietly, their footsteps filling the buzzing silence. For Ron Ron continue. He was still slurring when he spoke again,  
“He’s hurt. But he’s whole. He not broken pieces. He’s a person. A beautiful one. He just needs some support. I always wanna be- his support.”  
“What about when you need support Ron?” Ron screwed his face up, he then laughed, it was sudden and loud and threw Draco off for a second.  
“I’m being such a sap Merlin, the twins would take the piss if they could hear me right now.” Draco paused, he tried not to let the confusion show on his face.   
“The twins? What do you mean Ronnie?”  
“Hey! Watch yourself man, that’s what my boyfriend calls me. And yeah the twins. You know, Fred and George.”   
Draco stopped walking for the tiniest of seconds. He looked at Ron, who showed no signs of grief or memory. He wasn’t seeing Fred as his dead older brother, just his older brother. He’d forgotten. Oh Merlin. Draco really slowed down now, and Ron turned almost knocking himself over.  
“You coming?” He clearly recognised Draco, just not as himself.  
“Yeah,” Draco toon a breath, just trying to push past it, “Yeah I’m coming.”   
Ron smiled sleepily.   
“Yeahhhh, my boyfriend. He is amazing. And I love him. So much, so much. We had a fight this week, he didn’t talk to me. I felt-“ another odd gulp of air followed by a hiccup-“ like I was dying.”  
Draco’s heart twinged with guilt.   
“Did you make up?”  
“I think so. I just don’t get it.”   
“Don’t get what?” They we’re arriving at the castle now, entering through the through the huge, oak doors after Draco lightly supported Ron up the steps.   
“Don’t get why he loves me.” Draco thinks his heart might explode. Ron seems very deep in thought for the rest of their walk, which isn’t usually very long, but Draco worries about Ron on all of those stairs, so he decides to walk him up to the Gryffindor dormitories.   
“He actually like, he loves me man. He KISSED me. It’s insane. It’s more than insane. It’s beautiful. He’s beautiful. And I- am not good enough.”  
“You, Weasley, are more than good enough.” Draco is blushing so furiously and he’s very close to tears. He’s never felt more loved than in this exact moment. It’s such an amazing feeling, and he can’t get enough of it, but it upsets him more than he though it would that Ron doesn’t think he’s good enough. He’s so much more than good enough. He’s absolutely perfect. Draco vows to himself to make more of an effort, to get Ron to see that, to treat him. Ron is practically asleep when they reach the Gryffindor dorms, and he doesn’t for the life of him remember the password, but luckily, Harry and Ginny sneak round the corner, giggling and whispering and stop up short when they see Ron and Draco.   
Ron looks over and laughs, way too loudly, and they all rush too shush him.   
“Ewwwwww, my little sisterrrr.”  
“He’s drunk,” says Draco, quietly leaning Ron on Harry’s shoulder, “totally wiped out.” Ron’s eyes begin to droop over. Draco presses a light kiss to his cheek, Ron is too tired to protest this time.   
“Take care of him for me.”   
“Course, course.”

Draco is thinking about Ron’s words all the way back down to the dungeons, and it’s an awfully long time to think. Every time he thinks of the way Ron’s face softened when talking of him, a smile tugs at the corner of his lips, but it’s pulled right back down by the memory of Ron saying Fred’s name. Remembering how there hadn’t been any pain, or any pause like usual. Everything had been wiped. It wasn’t healthy, but Ron had been, so peaceful in it. Draco never would’ve corrected him. He can’t even picture his old self correcting him. When he finally kicks of his shoes and puts on his pyjama bottoms, not bothering with a top, and drawing his curtains around him, he lies down feeling drained, but so so happy. And so loved. He vows again, to make sure, especially after this week, that Ron always, always, feels loved.


	11. The fluffy finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHH IM SO SORRY I DISAPPEARED FOR A WHILE.  
> But I’m back now with this chapter (that I hope is long enough because it took forever) lots of authors notes in this so I’m sorryyyyy. This is the final chapter, if you want a part two please let me know but for now, enjoy this, and enjoy your quarantine ladies and gents.

*Flashback to late January/early February*  
Valentine’s Day was stressful for Ron, because Ron didn’t have any money. He wanted to do the best he could for Draco, Draco deserved the best, but there was one huge problem. Draco was USED to the best. It’s what he’s always gotten it’s what he expected to get, so it was likely that whatever Ron could think up, Draco had already had. So Ron has to start thinking early on. He asks Hermione, even though she’s never really hit him as the most romantic of people, he needed all the help he could get. And he was very sure all he would get from Harry would be sarcasm.  
“So you need something cheap?”  
“Yeah, I mean, don’t put it like that that’s awful.”  
“Sorry- I think I can help you out.”  
So it was Hermione he had to thank for this brilliant idea. This amazing incredibly complicated idea, that had literally taken his nights away planning. But it would all be worth it, when he saw Draco’s face, Merlin he couldn’t wait.

Monday 14th February, 2000

When the day finally arrived, Ron jumped out of bed. He was up early, which was becoming a strange habit of his, just another way Draco had effected him. He realised this might’ve been a better summer present, peering out side the slightly steaming window and watching the early morning fog billow out across the lawns, but it was too late to back out now. Hermione, in a very Hermione like way, was already up, sitting on the sofa, when Ron made his way down the stairs, struggling to button up his shirt. Hermione had the biggest shit-eating grin plastered onto her face, and she was facing the sofa backwards, looking at Ron as he reached the bottoms of the stairs. She let out a light squeal.  
“Cool it Granger.”  
“Oh come on, Ronald!” Hermione stood up and walked over and they both left the common room together, Hermione poked Ron lightly in the rib cage, “It’s cute, it’s romantic. That you’re going so far for him. You know how we’re going this right?”  
“Yeah I’m pretty sure just,” he lightly adjusted his collar around the blush that was slowly heating up his neck, “I just hope he likes it, to be honest, it might not be enough.”  
“Well it’s the thought that counts, and besides, he’s smart, he’ll see how much effort you’ve put into this.”  
“Yeah, I really hope so, although, this is Draco Malfoy we’re talking about, and what if we get caught?”  
“Well first of all, I’m very sure, as I’ve read them all, that it’s not strictly, directly, against any school rules. And if it is, you’re bending them, but breaking them.”  
Ron cackles and grins at her,  
“You mean WE are bending them, I’m pulling you down with this too.”  
Hermione makes a face of mock shock as they walk into the Great Hall, and Hermione pats Ron’s shoulder. This is the hardest part.  
“You got this.”  
He watches Hermione go and sit down opposite Harry, who’s hand is rapidly scrawling some late homework probably, and then he looks over to his destination. Not the Gryffindor table, no not today, and not his bed, even though he’s still rubbing the sleep from his eyes, but the table on the far side of the hall. The Slytherin table. He thought he could prepare, choke his nerves and his blush down to the pit of his stomach and stamp on them some. But regardless of how much he told himself it wasn’t, this was terrifying. As to be expected, a lot of Slytherins still held bad blood about him and he had no idea what their reaction to him plonking himself down on their table would be, especially next to one of their most iconic house members. Ron was already walking, extremely slowly, but his step faltered when he realised that maybe Draco’s friends didn’t know about him. Maybe Draco was embarrassed of him? He knew Draco was out and proud but, dating a Weasley, especially after all their history, was probably not something Draco was proud of. Ron did try to push the thought out, but it weaved it’s way into his mind and his heart and made him feel sick. Draco wasn’t proud. Who would be? Proud to have him anywhere around them? Ron wasn’t paying even the tiniest bit of attention to what he was doing or where he was standing anymore, he didn’t notice Harry and Hermione staring at him, puzzled and worried, debating between them wether they should get up or not. Ron could no long heart he bustle of the Great Hall, the chime of cutlery and the low rumble of chat, spread between the tables in front of him. All he knew was that he was sweating, the beads silently slipping down his back and wetting his shirt, taunting him with their slow, uncomfortable pace. All he could hear were Voldemort’s word, attacking his brain from the cloud of thoughts inside his head, like a bolt of lightening from a storm cloud.

I have seen your dreams Ron Weasley, and I have seen your fears.  
Least loved by a Mother, who craved a daughter.  
Least loved by the girl, who prefers your friend.  
(Lil authors note, he did used to be in love with Hermione, but she didn’t feel the same way and eventually he fell out of love and they agreed to be friends *my romione heart dies*)

The sweat from his back seemed to of decided it could find a better home on his forehead, and his armpits, and the nape of his neck. He wheezed for air, desperately dragging the oxygen into his lungs and back out again. With the last remaining part of his working conciseness, he took the required steps backwards to the outside of the hall, and collapsed into a crouch on the rough stone wall outside the entrance. Still wheezing and sweating, he tried to gather himself, tried to remind himself what he was supposed to be doing, and for who. But suddenly there wasn’t anything but the words in his head, and the black of the back of his eyelids and the suffocating feeling that he wasn’t good enough, never had been and never would be. 

Yeah that’s me, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter’s stupid friend. 

Don’t you family sleep in,erm,one room? 

He couldn’t breathe. He could not breathe. Ron has never really considered oxygen a luxury before, but now his throat was closing up and he wondered for a moment if this is what death felt like, he’d hoped it would be less panicked and immobilising, but you get what you’re given. His eyes were clouded over, and he heard someone sob breathlessly it might’ve been himself, but he couldn’t be sure. Maybe there was a small part of Ron’s brain that knew this was a panic attack, and not death, and that if he continued to breathe like this he would pass out, and that would really spoil Valentines Day, but this part of his brain had marched over repeatedly by the rest of his brain, in its hurry to put out the fire raging everywhere, but instead dosing it with gasoline instead of water.

Weasley was born in a bin  
He always lets the Quaffle in  
Weasley will make sure we win  
Weasley is our King. 

Except now Ron couldn’t remember why he count breath or where he was or why his tie felt so tight around his neck and why the boy that was sobbing was wheezing, all he knew was that he couldn’t die, not here, because someone he knew, he couldn’t remember who exactly, had died here, and he couldn’t die here not here, where ever that was. But that maybe that was best maybe he was meant to die here because no one really wanted him, and people might cry but they would move on with their lives, it wouldn’t be like when that other boy died here, and the boy that looked just liked him stayed locked up in his room, no because no one really wanted Ron, no one needed him-  
Draco.  
This is what Draco tastes like. There was a cold hand in the back of his hair, drenched in his sweat probably, and a slightly warmer, but still noticeably cold pair of lips on his and they tasted like autumn leaves and mint, a hint of citrus and rust. The lips tried to leave his but Ron chased them, graving the feels again, even just for a moment. Draco pulled away, and smiled gently. It took Ron a moment to recover, from the attack or from Draco’s eyes, he’ll never tell.  
“H-how’d you do that?”, it was barely a whisper.  
“I-uh- I read once that holding your breath could stop a panic attack,” he answered in the same tone, but calmer than Ron, “ So, when I kissed you, you held your breath.”  
Ron’s eyes drifted to Draco’s soft rosy cheeks, and lightly swollen lips.  
“I did ?” Still only a whisper.  
“Yeah,” he brushed under Ron’s eye with his thumb.  
“Thanks... you’re smart.”  
(For my Teen Wolf fans cause me and my s/o are quarantine binging <3)  
“I was coming to see you,” Ron peers up at Draco, and Draco wraps an arm around Ron, under his armpit and pulls him up, there’s a few nosy passers by, Hermione, Ginny and Harry standing across from them, expressions each ranging from nervous to cheeky smirks. Not the crowd Ron has expected, but he’s glad for that. Unfortunately, he can’t stand here forever, the breakfasts crowd is heading out of the hall, some looking depressed, some looking nervous, some sheepishly hand in hand with another. Draco is loosening Ron’s time for him, nonchalantly which gives Ron the chance to peak over his head to Hermione, already following Luna to her first session, she takes a moment to turn and wink at him, a sure sign to go ahead with his plan, even if it is has been derealised a little. Just then, as the last of the bustling crowd cleared, and some teachers gave the last students menacing looks, Draco slips something cold and smooth into Ron’s shirt pocket. Ron smiles down at him, kissing his forehead, and buttons his cloak. Draco looks puzzled. Ron grins.  
“It’s cold out.”  
“I didn’t take Herbo-“  
“Shhhhh,” Ron peeks at the teachers, walking to their own sessions, and drags Malfoy by his hand to the frosty lawns outside the castle. He pulls him as swiftly as he can down the steps, and then shifts there hands, so they’re conjoined in Ron’s pocket. Draco pulls Ron to a stop, and looks him right in the eyes, which isn’t easy considering Draco’s eyes are adjacent to Ron’s nose.  
“What’s up?”  
“What’s up? What’s UP? We’re skipping class Weasley, and you still haven’t told me where we’re going and- Bloody hell you just had a panic attack! Let’s just slow down okay?”  
The fact Draco had picked up Ron’s lingo made him blush, and he stopped as Dray wished, staring down at him, trying to quell his excited heart rate.  
“Why were you panicking? What happened Ronnie?”  
“I-,” his voice catches in his throat, and it takes him some time looking into Draco,s loving gaze to steady himself, “I forgot how loved I am,” he mimicked the gesture Draco had made earlier, rubbing a thumb across the top of Draco’s cheeks, rosy from the cold, “I had a whole plan, I was gonna come to the Slytherin table and plonk myself down next to you, tell you I had a surprise and drag you out here against your will, like my prisoner,” he playfully wrapped a hand around the top of Draco’s arm making him giggle, “ and then I saw you in all your princely-ness, and I guess I just forgot myself. I started thinking about- I don’t even know- You-know-who,” Ron avoided the name with Draco, he,d shown a certain sensitivity to it before, and Ron didn’t want to cause anymore negative emotions in either him or Draco, “ all the things he said to me, all the things I guess part of me still believes, that I’m nothing, to anyone, that no one would care if I died-“ he felt Draco flinch beneath the hand he’d left resting on his face, and he smiled lighting, looking at the ground to gather his thoughts. “I was thinking about Fred, about how I couldn’t die like he did, in Hogwarts. It’s probably my worst fear, that and spiders of course. Bloody spiders.”  
Ron watched Draco’s cold breaths fall from his mouth, slowly, hitting his arm, a comfortable silence falling between the two as Ron hot ready to speak again. Draco knew he wasn’t finished, he waited patiently enjoying the warmth of Ron’s hand on his cheek. A tear appeared on the auburn of Ron’s eyelashes, rolling down the slope of his freckled face before it switched courses, from his jawline to his lips, spreads across the thin line in between them. Draco leant forewords and up a little, softly kissing it away, and tasted the salt of Ron’s sadness on his own lips.  
(Hunger Games reference coming up because I can’t help myself apparently)  
“Nobody needs me,” Ron said into the silence, the words taking form of snow white cloud and disappearing into the frost air.  
There was a sternness in Draco’s voice when he spoke again, a fire in his eyes,  
“I do, I need you.”  
Ron’s deep eyes met Draco’s delicate grey ones and this time it was Ron leaning foreword, pushing every word he couldn’t say into his lips, placing them on Draco’s and kissing him with a fire so different from the one he’d felt earlier. His hand drifted from Draco’s face to his waist, pulling him close, and loving the feeling of Draco’s, fingers pulling at the hair on the back of his neck, they stayed like this for a while, lips moving in sync, caressing each other ever so carefully, loving every part of each other they could reach, until Ron pulled away for and and grinned when he looks at Draco, windswept and lips still slightly puckered, cheeks red from more than the cold.  
“I love you.”  
“I love you more, you arsehole.”  
“What did I do to deserve that Malfoy?”  
Draco’s eyes fluttered open as they started to walk again, stumbling to catch up with Ron’s long legged strides.  
“Still don’t know where we’re going,” Draco hmphed, folding his arms over his chest, in a very child-like manner.  
“It’s a surprise,” Ron giggled, pulling Draco’s cold hand back into his, dragging him round the side of the castle, and behind some hedges.  
“Hm,” Draco observed, “ Never been down here before, looks...private?”  
“That’s the idea.”  
Draco’s felt his blush heat up, he tried to keep himself together but was becoming increasingly curious and now excited.  
“Ron what are you up too?”  
Ron just turned to smirk at him, and carried on walking, further into the row of bushes, then releasing Draco’s hand, and leaning over a bush that was up to Draco’s waist. Maybe a little higher.  
Ron seems to be straining a little, and then he pulled two things(?) over the bush, and present them to Draco proudly.  
“Huh?”  
“Muggles call em bye cycles.”  
“...what do you do with them?” Draco walked over, placing his hand on the seat of a the silver one in Ron’s left hand, “I can’t very well have a gift I don’t know how to use can I ?”  
Ron laughed, “I suppose not no,” he climbed onto the bike, all be it a little awkwardly, and began to peddle the way Hermione had showed him, letting his cloak billow out behind him as he wove through the bushes, it had taken Hermione a while to teach him after she had sworn they were going to do this the muggle way, but she eventually gave in to a little bit of magic to make sure Ron was off training wheels by Valentines Day. Ron made a u-turn and smiled at Draco triumphantly, pulling up and stepping off the bike before casting a balancing charm over Draco’s.  
“It’ll take a while to get the hang of, and we’ll have to ask ‘Mione to transfigured them back for us when we’re done, but I thought it might be cool if my gift was more of an experience, sorry if it’s not, I mean I just didn’t know what you’d already do-“  
Draco kissed Ron so hard they fell over backwards, a tangle of lips and limbs, rolling around on the floor, giggling and blushing. Draco ended up on top of him, kissing every freckle he could see until they both calmed down a little Ron still laughing quietly and blushing everywhere, and Draco’s head nuzzled in Ron’s neck.  
“Thank you.”  
It did take Draco a while to get the hang of it mostly because he was using it less like a bike and more like a broomstick. He couldn’t grasp the concept of it and having Ron as a teacher wasn’t exactly the best way to start something about muggles- or anything for that matter. But just because it was a little strange and new, and rather difficult, he was truly enjoying himself. Which is something he’d never thought he’d say about anything like this, but watching Ron run next to him and laugh with him, not at him Ron assured cheekily, when he fell, the time they got to spend together, even if they did end up skipping a whole day if clash, was something Draco would never trade, and it brought got up feelings he’d never felt before. 

When they’d totally wiped themselves out, they both collapsed on the cold grass, the sky quickly darkening in the almost spring fashion, Ron’s arm around Draco, holding him close, with his eyes closed as Draco watched the stars. That’s when he remembered.  
“Oh!” he yelped, waking Ron from his half slumber,” I almost forgot your present-“  
“Awh Dray you didn’t have too-“  
“Shut it and stand up.”  
Ron didn’t have to be told twice, he did so and, on Draco’s request, closed his eyes. He felt the smooth, cold object he’d forgotten being removed from his shirt and some rustling as Draco fumbled around doing something. Ron giggled.  
“Okay, ready.”  
Ron opened his eyes and totally forgot how to breathe. But in a good way this time.  
“Merlins beard. What are you doing?”  
“Not proposing you half wit.”  
But he couldn’t at all blame Ron for thinking so, he’d removed his robe in spite of his goose-bumped arms and was on one knee in front of Ron, two shirt buttons undone, tie to the side of them both, laying amongst the grass, hair swept backwards out of its usual curtained state into a ruggedly attractive wave. In one hand, he held Ron’s freckled palm, gently caressing it with his thumb, in the other, a white gold plated ring. In its centre, a small gem, half red, half green. It sparkled in the fading sunlight, and Ron looked at it in awe. Draco took Ron’s hand and slipped it onto his finger. Ron was, for the most part, speechless. It was stunning, but he wasn’t sure exactly what was happening.  
“ Not proposing?”  
“No,” Draco laughed, still on his knee, kissing the ring and Ron’s finger, “It’s a promise ring, it means,” Draco pulled a chain out of his trouser pocket and slipped it into Ron’s hand, this too was white gold, not silver, and was in case Ron decided he wanted to wear the ring around his neck, close to his heart, “It means, I promise to be faithful, or loyal, or for some people I promise to be your friend. For me, for us,” Draco smiled gently, and stood up, kissing Ron’s nose, “it means, I promise I love you.”  
Ron let out the air he hadn’t realised he was holding in, and tried to form actual words. It took him a couple tries.  
“My bikes seem like such a stupid idea now.” He finally managed to get out through a laugh and Draco joined him.  
“Maybe not such a stupid idea, after all.” 

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This story got an insane amount of attention and I’m really proud because I’ve never written anything like this before. Please comment and leave kudos, because it makes me ver ver happy. If you liked this PLEASE go and check out my other works they’re super underrated and I worked really hard and I need validation.


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